Philip Toone

[Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act, December 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to speak to Bill S-6, a bill from the Senate, an act to amend the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act and the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act.

I oppose this legislation. I think it is deeply flawed. I would love to hear from the member for Yukon in the House. I do not see him anywhere.

[VIA Rail Canada Act, December 4th, 2014]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-614, An Act respecting VIA Rail Canada and making consequential amendments to another Act.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would give parliamentarians far more control over the decisions made concerning VIA Rail. It would also allow for a partnership to be established with the communities and industries involved in VIA Rail service. This bill is designed to create the legislative framework that VIA Rail has never had.

In the U.S., Amtrak was in rough shape without a legislative framework. Now, with that framework, Amtrak is on the right track. This company serves far more communities than it used to. We hope to learn from that and improve service in Canada.

VIA Rail is in crisis. Ridership is down and many routes have been cancelled. It is time that Parliament took this seriously. Do we really want passenger rail service in Canada? We must not forget that passenger rail service and the rail system built our country. We hope to maintain it for future generations.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Interparliamentary Delegations, December 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the 63rd Westminster seminar on practice and procedure held in London, United Kingdom, from June 16 to 20, 2014.

[Justice for Animals in Service Act (Quanto's Law), November 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from the opposite side for her presentation. I too agree with her that this bill has a lot of merit. It merits going to committee for more discussion. There are certain elements in this bill that deserve expert testimony to see if the elements that are being presented are the best ways to bring this matter forward. However, overall, bringing it to committee is definitely a step we should be encouraging all members to support.

I would ask this question for the member. When it comes to the minimum sentences that this bill is introducing, does she not agree that there have been an awful lot of challenges in courts regarding minimum sentences, and that this is costing the judicial system and the taxpayer a lot of money? There is a lot of labour expended from our justice department, defending elements of bills that are finally being defeated in the court, and they only have to be brought back to this House for another look. Should we not be asking experts their position on minimum sentences?

[Justice for Animals in Service Act (Quanto's Law), November 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I think that his concerns are worth noting.

This bill is certainly worthy of being debated in committee after the vote at second reading. I agree with my colleague that we must hear from experts on minimum sentences, since the courts have spoken out against them on a number of occasions. What happens is that judges are hesitant to impose minimum sentences and laws are even overturned, which is very costly.

I even asked the Minister of Justice yesterday how much it cost the federal government to defend its flawed bills with minimum sentences. Unfortunately he did not seem able to answer the question.

Does my colleague think that the Department of Justice is spending too much to defend bills that judges will often challenge? Is it worth going to the Supreme Court to defend minimum sentences—

[Petitions, November 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to present a petition signed by a hundred or so of my constituents. They are calling on the government to invest in the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Canada, designated an historic site in 1974, but unfortunately deemed surplus by Fisheries and Oceans Canada last year.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada are trying to hand over the lighthouse to a third party, but no third party is crazy enough to buy it, since the department did not invest enough in maintaining the lighthouse. There are no buyers. It is high time Fisheries and Oceans Canada start investing in it.

[Justice for Animals in Service Act (Quanto's Law), November 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech. I found his point of view refreshing.

I think we need to compare Bill C-35, Quanto's law, to other bills and the penalties being imposed in other bills. Is today's bill fair compared to others?

Some bills have gone too far. For some time now, it has been common to see court challenges of the penalties the House of Commons imposes in bills. The government must then rewrite the bills because they often go too far. The courts have been clear about this.

In many cases, the government should perhaps take time to consider and debate bills in committee and hear from experts. This government often does not listen. That is why I think the points my colleague raised were worthwhile and very interesting.

I would like him to comment on the time we are spending on this bill compared to the time we have spent on other bills. Budget implementation bills have been sped through, yet we are taking a lot of time to study bills that have a very narrow scope. Could he speak to that?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise today to ask the House leader what he has planned for the week of November 7.

However, I would first like to underscore a great success. Yesterday the House came together to give nearly unanimous support to the bill sponsored by the member for Scarborough Southwest, which pays tribute to our veterans. All the members who supported the bill should give themselves a round of applause. I hope the House will continue to co-operate in that way in the future.

I also have another question for the House leader. Since he still needs to designate two opposition days and the parliamentary session is winding down with the holidays just around the corner, could he tell us the exact dates of those opposition days?

[Petitions, November 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today signed by hundreds of my constituents, who are calling on the federal government to invest in the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse. This lighthouse was designated a historic site in 1974.

Unfortunately, the government is now trying to sell the lighthouse to a third party, but there are no takers. The government must help preserve this lighthouse, which sits at the entrance to Forillon Park and is the tallest lighthouse in Canada.

I hope that the government is listening.

[Petitions, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to present a petition that has been signed by hundreds of people in the Gaspé who want to save the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, which was designated as a historic site in 1974. It sits at the entrance of Forillon Park. Today, the government is trying to sell it off to a third party, but unfortunately, there are no takers. This lighthouse should be preserved, and the people in the Gaspé are very concerned. I hope that the government is listening.