Peter Van Loan

[Democratic Reform, October 18th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the statute is quite clear. It sets out a process for redistribution that is run on a non-partisan basis by independent commissions. Those will be under way in the appropriate time.

Under our legislation, we will ensure that there is a formula in place that ensures people of Saanich—Gulf Islands--or of British Columbia, in fact, and all of Canada--will have the fair representation that has long been denied to them.

[G8 Summit, October 18th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, our government lets committees be master of their own destiny because they are.

What we see from this side, that keeps being voted against by members on the other side, are measures to keep spending under control, to reduce taxes so Canadians have more dollars in their pockets, and measures to ensure our economy continues to grow and create jobs.

That is the focus of this government. We have delivered on accountability and transparency, and now we are delivering on economic growth.

[Ukraine, October 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I believe you will find unanimous consent of the House for the following motion.

I move:

That a take-note debate on the subject of concerns regarding the ongoing erosion of democracy in Ukraine, including most recently the politically motivated and arbitrary prosecution and conviction of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko by Ukrainian authorities, take place, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, on Tuesday, October 18, 2011.

[Committees of the House, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the committees determine their own agendas. They determine their work program and they are, of course, doing that with an objective of reducing government spending. We appreciate the work of the Auditor General, because the Auditor General has been very helpful to us in providing recommendations on which we have relied in order to eliminate waste in government. That is what we want to do on this side of the House.

It is very interesting that New Democrats are raising these concerns, because usually they object to every effort we make to eliminate waste and to keep the cost and size of government under control.

We will continue to do that and we appreciate the help of the Auditor General in providing us information that helps us achieve that objective of respecting taxpayers' dollars above all else.

[Committees of the House, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, committees are masters of their own destiny, but I would say this: right now our government is engaged in an effort to try to reduce government spending and reduce the size of government, and every step of the way it is the opposition members who are objecting to that.

We appreciate the efforts of the Auditor General to assist us in providing reports that help us to find examples of government waste.

We know we want to eliminate them. We know we want to reduce government spending. We know that every time we try to do it, those guys get upset. They are objecting to our efforts to cut down on spending.

[Business of the House, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in response to the question.

I want to start by extending my best wishes to the opposition House leader. I fear that this may be my last Thursday question from him, as I understand he might be embarking on new endeavours during the next week. We have worked together exceedingly well, to the surprise of many, I might say, and perhaps even to the disappointment of some. In any event, it is fair to say we have exceeded everyone's expectations in that regard.

Should it turn out that someone else asks next Thursday's question, allow me to offer him the best of luck. I know he is a determined competitor in every endeavour he undertakes and that he will still be around here, though perhaps in a somewhat different role.

As for the business of the House in the coming week, we will continue debating the keeping Canada's economy and jobs growing act this afternoon. That bill is designed to include many measures that were discussed in the last budget and the previous election, such as the small business hiring tax credit, extending the accelerated capital cost allowance for investments in manufacturing equipment, creating a new family caregiver tax credit, forgiving loans for new doctors and nurses in underserved areas and introducing a new children's arts tax credit for music, dance and art lessons.

Further to the motion adopted in the House this morning, the government will continue with the third and fourth days of debate on this bill on Friday. Then we will be in our constituencies for a week and we will return on the following Monday.

The House leader has asked me how much time is enough when we are doing the work we were elected by Canadians to do. The work we were elected by Canadians to do was to actually deliver on that budget and its terms that were discussed during the election campaign across the country earlier this year in the same fashion as our commitment to deliver on our tackling crime bill. The tackling crime bill was part of our commitment that we undertook to deliver to Canadians, and we intend to do that.

This bill will have been debated more than the average time at second reading than a typical average budget bill in the last 20 years, in fact more time than for any budget bill under a majority government during the past two decades, which I believe were Liberal majority governments.

On Tuesday, October 18, we will begin debate on the copyright modernization act.

In terms of the next allotted day, I will at some point allot that. We have not yet taken a decision on that.

In closing, let me wish all members a happy Thanksgiving. I know the opposition House leader in particular will put that week to great benefit.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, this is an important bill to proceed with quickly because it has important measures that would address what I think, and certainly what this government thinks, is the biggest challenge, but apparently not the opposition, and that is jobs and economic growth. We have that in this bill with a proposal for a hiring tax credit for the creation of new jobs by small businesses in Canada. It is very important for job creation. We need that measure in place now.

The opposition members asked for a jobs plan and we have it for them. First, they voted against it the other night and now they want to delay and obstruct it further. That is why we want to move forward with it quickly.

We also want to move forward with additional measures, such as our accelerated capital cost allowance so that businesses can continue to invest and improve productivity to ensure that Canadians stay at the cutting edge of being able to produce and grow to innovate and so that businesses would have the capacity to hire and create jobs and compete successfully.

We are in a context of a global economic downturn and being able to compete successfully globally is critically important for creating jobs here in Canada. That is what a measure like that would do and that is why we want to see that measure put in place without delay.

We have had unprecedented debate, a general election on--

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I do not think, in my lifetime, that there has been a budget that has received as much debate as this one. The budget was introduced in the previous Parliament and it was rejected by the opposition. We had an election and the main platform on which we ran was essentially the budget. After we won a majority government, confidence from Canadian voters, that budget was reintroduced in virtually the identical form and that budget was adopted by this House and is now being implemented through this budget implementation bill.

The amount of debate that has happened and the consultation with the public is unprecedented for this type of a bill. On top of that, we are proposing for this debate an entire four days of debate, which is more time than has typically happened, on average, for any budget implementation bill in the past 20 years. For all the budget implementation bills the average is certainly less than four days.

Therefore, we have ample opportunity to debate in this House following an unprecedented amount of public debate on this matter.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

moved:

That, in relation to Bill C-13, An Act to implement certain provisions of the 2011 budget as updated on June 6, 2011 and other measures, not more than three further sitting days shall be allotted to the consideration of the second reading stage of the bill; and

that, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government orders on the third day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 5th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I would like to advise that an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Order 78(1) or 78(2) with respect to the second reading stage of Bill C-13, An Act to implement certain provisions of the 2011 budget as updated on June 6, 2011 and other measures.

Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the Crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of proceedings at the said stage.

I would like to give the House the courtesy of knowing that I intend to propose that three further days of debate be allotted, including today. I understand that this is more than the average time for a budget bill at second reading for at least the past two decades. In fact, it would be more hours of debate than any Liberal majority government's budget bill got during this time.

My aim is to provide the House with sufficient debate on these important economic measures, including a hiring tax credit for small businesses. At the same time, it would bring certainty to the process and aid members of the House on the finance committee in managing their busy work schedules.