Pat Martin

[Petitions, January 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by literally thousands of Canadians from right across the country.

The petitioners bring to the attention of Parliament that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known, yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world. They point out that last year more people died from asbestos than from all other industrial causes combined, and that Canada allows the exporting of 200,000 tonnes of asbestos per year into third world and underdeveloped nations. They also point out that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and even blocks international efforts to curb its use by other countries.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all its forms, to institute a just transition program for asbestos workers, to end all government subsidies with respect to asbestos, and to stop blocking international health and safety conventions which protect workers in other countries, such as the Rotterdam convention.

[Proportional Representation Review Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-267, An Act to provide for a House of Commons committee to review the possibility of using proportional representation in federal elections.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River.

The bill that we are putting forward today would provide for a review of the possibility of using proportional representation in federal elections. A standing committee of the House of Commons would be designated to conduct this review and to report with recommendations after public hearings. A referendum may then be held and the question shall be put whether electors favour replacing the present electoral system with a process proposed by the proportional representation committee as concurred in by the House of Commons and the referendum, if any, would be held at the same time as the next general election.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Credit Ombudsman Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-266, An Act to establish the position and Office of the Credit Ombudsman, who shall be an advocate of the interests of consumers and small businesses in credit matters and who shall investigate and report on the provision, by financial institutions, of consumer and small-business credit on a community basis and on an industry basis, in order to ensure equity in the distribution of credit resources.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River, for seconding this bill as well.

The purpose of the bill is to provide for a review of the possibility of using proportional representation in federal elections. A Standing Committee of the House of Commons will be designated to conduct this review and to report with recommendations after public hearings. It also contemplates that a referendum may be held and the question shall be whether electors favour replacing the present electoral system with the process proposed by the proportional representation committee as concurred in by the House, and that referendum, if any, must be held at the same time as the next general election.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-265, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (protection of assets).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River for supporting this pension initiative. Pensions are on the mind of many Canadians and this particular enactment would provide further protection of the assets of pension plan members and beneficiaries by three important measures: first, to ensure that members have adequate representation on the boards of trustees of pensions, pension committees and pension councils; in other words, mandatory representation of the employee and the beneficiaries of the plan.

Second, it would provide that not more than 10% of the total value of the assets of a pension plan could be held in securities issued by the employer or by a corporation associated with the employer. This is a lesson learned from Enron where employees were strongly encouraged to invest all of their retirement savings in a company they worked for, with all their eggs in one basket, and the results, as we know, were catastrophic.

Third, it would prevent pension plan administrators and beneficiaries from being restricted in the sale of the employer's securities unless those directors and officers of the employer are similarly restricted. In other words, the beneficiary administrators are not allowed to promote the sale of the employer's own stock unless there is some distance put in between them.

Finally, the bill would require that information that affects or is likely to affect the value of securities be provided to pension plan administrators and to persons with the power to trade in those securities at the same time that it is provided to anyone other than the directors, officers, management and advisers of the employer to stop the difficult situation of insider trading.

We believe anything to do with adding to the security of pension plans is necessary and timely in this session of this Parliament and we encourage unanimous support of the legislation and we hope we can find it.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Family Farm Cost-of-Production Protection Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-264, An Act to provide cost-of-production protection for the family farm.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River, who also supports our efforts today to speak out on behalf of farmers across the country.

The purpose of this enactment is to provide cost of production protection to family farms where the weighted average input cost of products typically produced or suited to production in a farming zone exceeds the weighted average net back to the farm gate of such products averaged over three years.

The costs, as contemplated in this bill, are to be calculated on the basis of marketable product and, thus, will take into account bad weather conditions, pests and other crop loss factors. The calculations are to be based on normal crops or livestock produced for food or breeding and are to be approved by an independent auditor, which is a very important clause of the bill.

I will take this opportunity to clarify that this enactment would not provide for support on a product-by-product basis and, therefore, is not a direct product subsidy. It is simply to provide cost of production protection to family farms in cases where the weighted average input cost of products exceeds the weighted average net back to farm gate of those same products.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Referendum Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-263, An Act to amend the Referendum Act (reform of the electoral system of Canada).

Mr. Speaker, this bill seeks to amend the Referendum Act so that a referendum may be held on any question relating to the reform of the electoral system in Canada.

We kept the bill simple and straightforward for a specific purpose. We do not want to cloud the issue with what the changes should be to the electoral system but we do want to ask Canadians directly if they are or are not satisfied with the current first past the post system. If they are not, we want to consult with Canadians on whether they would be willing to entertain what we believe would be good, which is a system of proportional representation.

The first and necessary step is for the members of the House of Commons to amend the Referendum Act to contemplate such a referendum being held on questions related to the reform of the electoral system in Canada.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Old Age Security Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-262, An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (monthly guaranteed income supplement).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River for seconding this bill that seeks to speak for Canadians who are receiving old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. This enactment would amend the Old Age Security Act to allow eligible pensioners to receive the guaranteed income supplement without having to apply for it.

We were shocked to learn recently that hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are eligible to receive the guaranteed income supplement are not receiving it because they have not proactively filled out the forms and made application to receive it. We argue that the Government of Canada knows who these people are by virtue of their income tax records. They should simply be allocated the guaranteed income supplement when they become eligible by virtue of their income in the preceding year. This would address the issues of literacy and mobility that may prevent eligible people from making that application and would put that much needed guaranteed income supplement into the hands of people who need it most without delay, interference or any duty or obligation on their part.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Criminal Code, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-261, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (failure to stop at scene of accident).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River again for seconding this important bill.

The legislation would amend the Criminal Code. A person in control of a vehicle, or a vessel or an aircraft who was involved in an accident and who failed to stop at the scene of that accident would be guilty of a separate stand-alone offence within the Criminal Code.

The bill would provide harsh penalties. If a person suffered bodily harm and died as a result of an accident, or if a person suffered bodily harm but was not killed in an accident, the legislation would contemplate a minimum punishment of four years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. These provisions would apply whether or not the person was aware that another person suffered bodily harm by virtue of their actions.

This is strongly worded legislation that has been crafted to address a serious shortcoming in the current Criminal Code.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Criminal Code, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-260, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (legal duty outside Canada).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River for seconding this important legislation.

Let me introduce the bill by recognizing and paying tribute to the Hon. Ed Broadbent who fought for this very issue in his terms of office as a member of Parliament.

The bill is based on the premise that Canada recognizes the fundamental rights of workers, including their right to be free from unhealthy and unsafe working conditions within our country. We want to extend the recognition of that right to the activities of Canadian companies when acting abroad. In other words, we believe a majority of Canadians want Canadian corporations to meet the same minimum health and safety standards for their employees abroad as they do in this country.

We point to the precedent that the Criminal Code currently contains a provision aimed at protecting children in other countries from Canadian sexual predators. That same reasoning and logic should apply to the international activities of all Canadians when abroad.

We can set international standards for health and safety if Canadian companies act abroad as they are obliged to act in this country.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Canada Business Corporations Act, January 27th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-259, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act (annual financial statements).

Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank my colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River for being present today to second this important legislation.

We believe that if an auditor has undertaken other work for a business or a corporation, that information should be freely disclosed on the company's financial statements. In other words, there should be a mandatory declaration by the auditor clearly outlining what other financial services either he or the firm that he or she works for have provided for that corporation.

We call this the Enron article because that was exactly the situation in the historic collapse of Enron. Auditors were selling financial services to the company at one end and then auditing those same books and finding them to be A-okay. We do not want that to happen to Canadians. That is why this is necessary legislation.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)