Peter Van Loan

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the consideration of Government Business No. 13, I move:

That the debate be not further adjourned.

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I give notice, pursuant to Standing Order 57, that a minister of the crown will propose at the next sitting, in respect of government Motion No. 13, that the debate not be further adjourned.

[Business of the House, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think as everyone in the House knows, it was the intention of the government to have a debate and a vote on this matter today. However, it is apparent right now that it will not happen. As a result, I would like to provide the following brief statement about the business of the House for the balance of the week.

The fourth allotted day, which was originally set for tomorrow, will now be on Thursday, October 9. Wednesday will see us debate Bill C-40, the Rouge national urban park act, at second reading. Friday will be the last day of third reading of Bill C-13, protecting Canadians from online crime act.

Tomorrow we will resume debate on the government's resolution on taking appropriate action against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

[Business of the House, October 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to respond to my colleague. On the question of question period, as I have observed before, the tone of question period is overwhelmingly determined by the tenor of the questions asked.

There was a very worthwhile letter to the editor in The Globe and Mail yesterday on exactly that subject from a gentleman from Halifax, which I was most appreciative of. I am sure that if the members of the opposition take heed of that, we will see very high-quality question periods in the future.

In terms of the business of the House, for the balance of today, we will be continuing forward on the Nááts’ihch’oh national park reserve act, Bill S-5. Tomorrow, it is our intention to complete the last day of Bill C-36. This is the bill to respond to the court's decision. The court has set a deadline for us in December, and we do want to respond to that. We will be proceeding with other matters on the order paper through the following week.

I do intend to identify Tuesday as an additional allotted day. I believe that it will be an opportunity for the NDP once again.

We have had some discussion in the House of the importance of the potential matter of the mission that is under way in combatting the ISIL terrorist threat right now. There is the potential for the schedule that I have laid out to be interrupted at some point in time by the need for a motion of the House, should there be a decision by the government to proceed with a combat mission.

I do not believe that I reported to the House exactly what we are going to be doing on Monday. On Monday, we will deal with Bill S-4, the digital privacy act, and Bill C-21, the red tape reduction act.

[Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, October 1st, 2014]

moved:

That in relation to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration of the report stage and one sitting day shall be allotted to consideration of the third reading stage of the said bill; and

That, fifteen minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government orders on the day allotted to the consideration of the report stage and on the day allotted to 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.

[Protecting Canadians From Online Crime Act, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to advise the House that an agreement could not be reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2) concerning the proceedings at report stage and third reading of Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

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 those stages.

[Business of the House, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, if the subject of the question, which was sometimes hard to discern, is free votes, I would suggest that perhaps the NDP members could show some leadership for once and start holding free votes in the amount they see them happen on the government side.

It is clear that when it comes to free votes, no party has as many free votes in the House of Commons as this party does.

[Business of the House, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, when one looks at any other jurisdiction in the world, there is no question period as accountable as Canada's.

If we look at Britain, for example, which is held up by many as a paragon of virtue, on any given day, one can ask a question of only a handful of ministers, and those questions must be done with advance notice. Here we answer questions any day, on any subject, fully accountable, and we do not need a one-sided motion from the opposition to tilt the balance heavily and force the government into a straitjacket that simply does not apply to the opposition.

Let us have a fair and balanced debate that is fair to all sides.

[Business of the House, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our Parliament enjoys the most accountable question period of any Parliament in the world. Questions come without notice on any subject and we have to be ready to answer them, unlike in the U.K. where, for example, notice is required, and only a limited number of ministers is available in any particular question period.

However, I will say that the NDP motion, which is a one-way street, seeks to fully constrain the government without applying any new standards at all to the opposition to elevate the level of question period. This is simply unfair. We believe in two-way debates. We also believe that question period should be a two-way street, and the government should not be left with its hands tied while the opposition has a free hand.

[Business of Supply, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my friend from Hamilton thinks it should be a one-sided pummelling with the government with its hands tied behind its back. That is not what it should be. It should allow for a reasonable dialogue and exchange of views.