Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. With respect to order paper Questions Nos. 1148, 1150, 1153, 1154, 1155 and 1158, I wish to table, in both official languages, documents containing the government's responses to these questions.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 50% of the vote.
Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act June 3rd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. With respect to order paper Questions Nos. 1148, 1150, 1153, 1154, 1155 and 1158, I wish to table, in both official languages, documents containing the government's responses to these questions.
Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act June 3rd, 2015
moved:
That, in relation to Bill S-6, an act to amend the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act and the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at report stage of the bill and one sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said bill; and
That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government orders on the day allotted to the consideration at report stage and on the day allotted to the consideration at third 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 stage of the bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.
Business of the House May 29th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, earlier today, as you know, I attempted to get unanimous consent for a motion and unfortunately did not succeed. I am going to try one more time, and I am more optimistic this time, there having been further consultations among the parties, that we will have such consent.
I move:
That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, the Order for consideration of Ways and Means Motion No. 23 be deemed read, the motion to concur deemed moved and seconded, the question deemed put, and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Monday, June 1, 2015, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders.
Committees of the House May 29th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties. If you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion, that notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, the order for consideration of the Ways and Means Motion No. 23 be deemed read, the motion to concur deemed moved and seconded, the question deemed put, and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Monday, June 1, 2015, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.
Taxation May 29th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, in fact, our government has cut literally hundreds and hundreds of tariff lines. Partly we have done it, of course, as part of our process of entering into free trade agreements, at an unprecedented level compared with any other government in Canadian history, but we have also done it through the implementation of our new policy of allowing inputs into the manufacturing process in Canada to enter tariff free. This helps reduce costs for manufacturing and helps reduce the cost of our manufacturing products in Canada.
This has been a significant advance for us, which has resulted in massive reductions in tariffs. This is all good news for Canadians, for Canadian consumers, for Canadian businesses, and for creating Canadian jobs.
Taxation May 29th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, our government has undertaken a number of initiatives to reduce taxes. Of course, the ones being referenced are ones that are part of a number of things we have done to help families by reducing taxes. In particular, the member spoke about sports equipment, where we did reduce tariffs where we did not have Canadians manufacturing in a field.
More importantly for Canadians is the fact that we have, in the most recent budget, doubled the sports and fitness tax credit, which we originally introduced. Again, it is another thing that is helping families get by and keep their children involved and active in sporting activities. This is an example of our government taking action to help families.
Business of the House May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to reducing taxes everyone knows these are Conservative ideas and Conservative proposals. In fact, when we reduced the GST from 7% to 6% to 5%, saving Canadians billions of dollars, the NDP voted against that measure to benefit Canadians. Therefore, we know who is delivering on lower taxes for Canadians.
This afternoon we will start the report stage of Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act. Needless to say, I am disappointed to see on today’s notice paper some 17 report stage amendments, which, all told, would eviscerate the content of the bill. From these proposals, the opposition are clearly signalling that they do not support this Conservative government’s efforts to send a strong message to those in Canada, and those who wish to come to Canada, that we will not tolerate cultural traditions that deprive individuals of their human rights. Early and forced marriages, “honour”-based violence, and polygamy will not be tolerated on Canadian soil, so Conservatives will be voting against all of these opposition amendments.
Tomorrow, we will resume the third reading debate on Bill C-42, the common sense firearms licensing act. I am optimistic we can pass the bill soon so the Senate will have adequate time to consider these reductions in red tape, which regular, law-abiding Canadian hunters, farmers and outdoor enthusiasts face.
Monday shall be the sixth allotted day. The New Democrats will provide a motion for the House to debate when we come back from a weekend in our constituencies.
We will complete the report and second reading stages of Bill S-4, the digital privacy act, on Tuesday. Earlier today, the House heard my colleague, the Minister of Industry, explain the importance of this key legislation.
Wednesday, we will see the House return to the report stage of Bill S-6, the Yukon and Nunavut regulatory improvement act. This legislation is clearly both needed and wanted north of 60. Bill S-6 would modernize regulatory regimes up north and ensure they are consistent with those in the rest of Canada, while protecting the environment and strengthening northern governance.
Next Thursday, June 4, will be the seventh allotted day, when the House will again debate a topic of the New Democrats' choosing.
Finally, for the benefit of those committees studying the supplementary estimates, I am currently eyeing Monday, June 8 as the final allotted day of the supply cycle. I will, however, confirm that designation at this time next week.
Digital Privacy Act May 28th, 2015
However, I also want to address another issue, which I raised in a notice to the House yesterday, and that is that I would like to propose the following motion, seconded by the Minister of Industry. I move:
That, in relation to Bill S-4, an act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another act, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to consideration at the report stage and second reading stage of the bill and one sitting day shall be allotted to consideration at the third reading stage of the bill; and
That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at the report stage and second reading stage of the said bill and on the day allotted to consideration at the third 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 stage of the bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.
Port State Measures Agreement Implementation Act May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I want to speak about Bill S-3, an act to amend the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act, which is a particularly important bill. It is designed to combat illegal fishing and to do so in the context of working with our international partners. This is important for Canadians from a number of perspectives.
Obviously, the fishery is of tremendous economic importance. There are many thousands of families that depend one way or another on the fishery. We have seen in past decades the havoc that can be wrought by foreign overfishing, which has seriously harmed our economy and undermined the fishery in terms of the cod fishery, for example, which has yet to fully recover from that. This makes it particularly important that we implement the measures included in this particular agreement.
It is from that perspective, the economic one, that it is important to the families involved in the fishery, but it is also important from a Canadian sovereignty perspective. This is a further way for us to properly assert our sovereignty over our resources and territory, and that is something I think Canadians support.
Finally, it is, of course, of greater and greater environmental significance. There is a broad recognition that the fisheries are somewhat at risk internationally. There are parts of the world where overfishing has been dramatic, and we have only a vague sense in some parts of the world of the potential impact. Canada can be proud of having been a leader in that regard by taking action to further prevent illegal overfishing and to allow proper management not just of our resource but of the very important natural ecosystem. That is what we are talking about here. It is very important legislation from an environmental perspective.
Economically, sovereignty-wise, and from the environmental perspective, this is a very important bill to support.
Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act May 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I must advise that an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2) concerning the proceedings at the report and third reading stages of Bill S-6, an act to amend the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act and the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act.
Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the Crown will propose, at a future sitting, motions to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of the proceedings at the said stages of the said bill.