Peter Van Loan

[Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Governance Agreement, December 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Governance Agreement and Tripartite Governance Agreement in both official languages.

[Ways and Means, December 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise at this time to table the notice of a ways and means motion to introduce an act to give effect to the governance agreement with Sioux Valley Dakota Nation and to make consequential amendments to other acts. I do that in both languages.

I ask that a day be designated for consideration of the motion.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in order to produce information on all interactions with citizens and residents of Canada to the level of detail requested, organizations would be required to manually verify each and every file they maintain. Organizations do not necessarily maintain records on interactions employees may have had with citizens or residents of Canada. For these reasons, as well as because of the extraordinary volume involved, it is not possible to produce the information requested.

[Business of the House, November 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the opposition House leader with regard to the difficulties and uncertainty of scheduling when we are not using the scheduling devices that are available to us under the Standing Orders. I am certain that he will find that he is able to cope with that, but perhaps I will take his advice and his concern about the lack of proper scheduling here under consideration and see if there is an opportunity to please him by once again returning to it.

Before I turn to the business of the House for the week ahead, let me congratulate those who won Monday's by-elections and will soon be joining us as members. Once returning officers have done their part of the job, which gives them the title upon the return of the writs of election, and after the new MPs have taken the oath, we will have their introductions here in this chamber, which will be a very special memory for them and for all of us.

Since this will probably be the last opportunity to use their names in the House, I will say that we on the Conservative benches are especially looking forward to welcoming Ted Falk and Larry Maguire. Larry proved to be an outstanding campaigner when it really counted. He overcame what expert pollsters said was a 29-point deficit in just 24 hours to win Brandon—Souris. This abrupt collapse of Liberal support must be troubling to the Liberal leader.

This afternoon, we will return to the second reading debate on Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, and, again, tomorrow. If we have extra time, we will take up Bill C-12, the Drug-free Prisons Act, at second reading.

Bill C-13 will, as we heard from the Attorney General yesterday, ensure children are better protected against bullying, including cyberbullying, by making the distribution of intimate images without the consent of the person depicted a criminal offence.

Following on this morning’s report from the chair of the hard-working, productive and orderly Standing Committee on Finance, we will consider Bill C-4, the Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 2, at report stage, and hopefully third reading, on Monday and Tuesday.

This bill would provide support for job creators, for example, by extending and expanding the hiring credit for small businesses; and it would also close tax loopholes, combat tax evasion and respect taxpayer dollars. Overall, it is an important part of our government's ongoing agenda to place, as our top priorities, economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity; indeed, they are priorities for most Canadians. I also will set aside Friday of next week for this important economic bill, if we need a third day to pass it.

Next Wednesday and Thursday, we will debate a bill to implement the devolution agreement reached with the Northwest Territories, for which the House adopted a ways and means motion this morning. If we can pass that bill at second reading before the end of Thursday, we would then return to the debates on Bill C-11, the priority hiring for injured veterans act, and Bill C-3, the safeguarding Canada's seas and skies act.

To help with the committees' forward planning, Monday, December 9, shall be the fifth and final allotted day of the autumn.

[Points of Order, November 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, it is not the practice of you, under the rules, to regulate the quality of the answers or even the quality of questions. However, it is a long-time rhetorical device. In many cases, the best answer to a question is a question that poses and illustrates that the difficulty is with the question we have been posed and its inconsistencies.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, it is well beyond your jurisdiction to get into assessing the quality of the various answers.

[Committees of the House, November 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I anticipate that if you seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, during Routine Proceedings on Monday, December 2, 2013, the 42nd Report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House in the First Session of the 41st Parliament, be deemed to have been presented under the rubric “Presenting Reports from Committees”; under the rubric “Motions”, a motion to concur in the Report be deemed moved and seconded; no Member may speak for longer than 10 minutes on the motion to concur in the 42nd Report and the speeches be not subject to a question and comment period; provided that a Member may indicate to the Speaker that he or she will be dividing his or her time with another Member; and after 40 minutes of debate, or when no Member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, the motion be deemed adopted on division.

[Ways and Means, November 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I have the honour to table a notice of a ways and means motion to introduce an act to replace the Northwest Territories Act to implement certain provisions of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement. I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of this motion.

I also have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement.

[Crisis in the Philippines, November 20th, 2013]

moved:

That this Committee take note of the crisis in the Philippines.

[The Philippines, November 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, a take note debate on the subject of the crisis in the Philippines take place, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, on Wednesday, November 20, 2013;

during the debate, no quorum calls, requests for unanimous consent or dilatory motions shall be received by the Chair; and

any Member rising to speak during debate may indicate to the Chair that he or she will be dividing his or her time with another Member.

[Business of the House, November 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-2 gives communities real and meaningful input on decisions on drug injection facilities that can have a serious impact on those communities. In my November 7 Thursday statement, I had hoped that after hearing from their constituents last week, the New Democrats would end their filibuster of the bill, but that did not happen.

It is important that this key bill make progress this fall. Therefore, we will continue debating that bill on Thursday. That means that Tuesday, November 26, will now be the fourth allotted day.