Peter Van Loan

[Committees of the House, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I move, pursuant to Standing Order 56.1, and seconded by the President of the Treasury Board:

That the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights be the committee for the purposes of section 533.1 of the Criminal Code.

[Business of the House, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, before we depart to our constituencies and events for Remembrance Day where most of us will be participating in remembrance services in our ridings, we will resume third reading debate on Bill C-28, the financial literacy leader act.

The week of November 19 will continue to see a lot of important action at the House committee level, where we are looking at the budget implementation act, Bill C-45, the jobs and growth act, as it advances through the legislative process. The finance committee is supported by 10 other committees looking at it and all together they will conclude the review of this very important bill and the very important job creation and economic measures that are laid out, measures that were first put before Parliament back in our March budget.

Meanwhile, on Monday the House will continue the third reading debate of Bill C-44, the helping families in need act, which we started this morning. Given support for the bill from all corners of the House, I hope it will pass that day so the Senate can pass it before the end of the year.

After Bill C-44, it is our intention to take up the report stage and third reading of Bill S-11, the safe food for Canadians act, which was reported back from the agriculture committee yesterday. I hope we will see strong interest in passing that bill quickly, just as we did for second reading.

Once that bill passes on Monday, the House will return to third reading of Bill C-28, the Financial Literacy Leader Act, if we do not finish the debate today.

That will be followed by second reading of Bill S-8, the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, the chamber will consider report stage and third reading of Bill C-27, the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which was also reported back from committee yesterday.

I should also advise the House that on Tuesday when we return from the Remembrance Day week, immediately after question period I will call ways and means Motion No. 14 respecting some technical amendments to tax laws. Let me assure the House that there should be no doubt about this, but the opposition will no doubt be disappointed. This motion will definitely not implement the New Democrats' $21.5 billion job-killing carbon tax.

Finally, on Thursday before question period, the House will resume second reading debate of Bill S-8 and after question period we will take up Bill S-2, the family homes on reserves and matrimonial interests or rights act, also at second reading.

[41st General Election, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform has made it quite clear that we need to improve Canada's elections laws. That is why he will bring forward legislation to do exactly that. We continue to gather input from other sources.

Just the other day I saw media reports of a further report from the chair of Elections Canada suggesting that we should be considering other changes. He will look comprehensively at what needs to be changed and bring forward proposals that will address those problems so we will not have the kind of issues we have had with the Liberals with loans that are not being paid back from their leadership contestants that are effectively illegal donations and the kind of illegal donations—

[41st General Election, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs has made it clear that we need to improve our electoral laws. That is why he is going to bring forward legislation to do that.

However, the problem is not always that we need to improve our electoral laws. The problem is that some parties like the NDP do not even follow our election finance laws, having accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations that they then were required to pay back. They decided behind closed doors what was going on with Elections Canada. They did not disclose it to the House or to Canadians. They are the ones who have to be accountable to Canadians for this and they are not willing to do that.

[Canada Labour Code, November 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the proposal of the New Democratic Party House leader for his first time allocation motion. I welcome him to the club, having proposed the allocation of time for debate on an item in the House.

We actually have a better idea to speed this up, and the other parties are aware of this. I propose the following motion, which would ensure that the bill gets to the Senate today: That notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, Bill C-32, an act to amend the Civil Marriage Act, shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read a third and passed.

By adopting this motion, the bill would proceed to the Senate today.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the NDP members continue to look in the past, both on the fundamental question of trade, which they consistently oppose, and on following developments in the compliance of countries, such as Panama, with their international obligations. That is why the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development moved them off the grey list and deemed them substantially in compliance with those very tax issues about which he is concerned.

The problem with the NDP members is that they will reach for any excuse to oppose a trade agreement. They have opposed trade agreements with the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Jordan, Peru, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Honduras and now Panama. They do not miss an opportunity to oppose more jobs and more opportunities for Canadians to export. Why? It is because they believe in an old model where Canada is an island and is not part of a larger world economically. That is the way of the past. That is the way of poverty. That is not the way of this government.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member, who indeed represents a community that has a long and proud tradition in Canada's agricultural sector, particularly in meats and processed meats, where they have been pioneers and have done very well.

There are two segments where we stand to gain a great deal under this agreement for Canadian farmers. I am sure that the member has heard it from his constituents who stand to gain a great deal. Those segments are the pork and beef sectors. Canadian beef and pork producers have become some of the most successful in benefiting from exports to other markets.

It is not surprising. Not too many NDP members represent those kinds of constituencies. If they did, they would know and would hear from their producers that they want access to these markets. The Panamanian market is one of those places where we see a real opportunity, the way this agreement is structured, to see benefits for Canadian beef and pork producers. That is why we want to deliver on this agreement for Canadians and deliver on it soon.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raises the question of the NDP-proposed carbon tax. He does not like it being discussed in this House. It has been said that the New Democrats have never met a tax they did not like. They are always creatively trying to come up with a new one. He has a new one: a tax on ignorance.

I am not going to get into speculating about who might be asked to pay that tax. However, I can tell members that on this side, we are fundamentally opposed not just to the NDP carbon tax but to the tax on ignorance the New Democrats are now proposing.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this agreement has been around for two and a half years. I was there, as the trade minister, for the signing ceremony. It has been there for everyone to see. We have had legislation in this House for some time. The reason it has become so urgent is that we are now in a situation where we are almost a week into a very unlevel playing field. American workers and companies have the benefit of a trade agreement with Panama that is in force. Canada and Canadian workers are now behind them.

When the question of why it is urgent that we take action now is asked, the answer is that when a Canadian company loses a contract to an American company, the Canadian company is no longer the customer. The American company will be the customer going forward. We are at risk of losing those contracts now. What happens every time one of those contracts is lost? Canadian jobs are lost. That is the urgency. We want to see Canadian jobs grow, not guarantee the loss of Canadian jobs through the delay of this agreement.

The New Democrats apparently say, “Don't worry. Lose those contracts. Let those Canadian jobs be lost. We want more time to debate an agreement that has been around for two and a half years”. We do not agree with that lax attitude. We understand that in the world of global competition, we have to be nimble. We have to compete. We have to give Canadian workers every advantage we can. That is what we would do here on this side.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, first, I will remind the member that this is not a motion for closure. I do not know if she was paying attention. This is actually a motion under a different rubric. It is called time allocation. It is a different part of the Standing Orders. I invite her to familiarize herself with the rules of the House of Commons.

The member did, however, cover the elements that are part of the labour agreement that are very important for the protection of our workers. They ensure that they are on a level playing field and do not work at a disadvantage compared with workers elsewhere. Those are things in the labour agreement such as the elimination of child labour; the elimination of forced labour and discrimination; respect of freedom of association; protection of the right to collective bargaining; protection in regard to occupational health and safety, including compensation in case of injury or illness; employment standards, including minimum wage and overtime pay; and non-discrimination in respect of working conditions for migrant workers.

These are things that are mutually protected in this agreement and that ensure that our workers have fair access to that market for goods and products and are not competing at a disadvantage. That is what we are seeking to do here.

Having enumerated those so well, I would hope that the member would become an enthusiastic supporter of this opportunity to create jobs and opportunities for Canadian workers to sell their goods and services into the Panamanian market, no longer at a disadvantage, and not a disadvantage compared with Americans. They would be on a level playing field, where I know Canadian workers can compete.