Pierre Nantel

[Petitions, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadian citizens asking the Government of Canada to urge the United Nations to establish an independent inquiry mechanism to ensure truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democratic Party organized extensive consultations on Bill C-38. I heard a lot of concerns about this legislation. I myself just used the term “heard” when I should have said “listened”.

The member said he heard a number of witnesses, but did he really listen to them?

[Copyright Modernization Act, June 15th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a question.

Does he agree that this copyright reform has a lot in common with the policies of our neighbours to the south, and that it is basically a cut-and-paste job? Is the government essentially copying the American vision, adding nothing more than a “Royal Canadian” sticker?

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I understand my colleague's concerns about this bill.

I would like to know what the primary source of his doubts is. Is it the 25th gag order, ministers' constant interference in routine business, the government's culture of secrecy or the many ethics-related issues that have him doubting the appropriateness of giving discretionary powers to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism?

[Archives Canada, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the government's procurement website currently lists an invitation to tender from Archives Canada to digitize our documentary heritage.

The problem is that the government is doing this right after announcing to archivists that half of their positions would be eliminated. Once again, the government wants to put what belongs to us into the hands of the private sector. Is that not strange? Who is going to do this work—Lockheed Martin?

Why is the government trying to privatize so many jobs and why does it want to hand our archives over to the private sector?

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, June 7th, 2012]

Fine, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

In fact, Panama has made efforts to meet the criteria so it would no longer be on the grey list, but the fact remains that it is refusing to sign a tax information exchange agreement. I think we are entitled to wonder about that, and they are not entitled to shove it down our throats.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, June 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is funny, in fact, because they are obviously making fun of me. They are saying that I get my information from Google.

We also have people who are well-informed and work hard. We have researchers and members who are very conversant with this subject. We have no trouble finding nonsense on Google, as I know some of his colleagues do among themselves.

We must not believe everything we see on Google. He is looking at me, but let him look at me; he may as well do it and may as well make fun of me. Thank you.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, June 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his comments.

His question is very eloquent. I know how proud we can be of our team in the New Democratic Party, because we have a lot of people who are very well-informed on these subjects. I am thinking of my colleague from Vaudreuil—Soulanges who just asked me a question, or our member from Ottawa. They are experts in the field and they are the first to stand up and tell young people to pay attention: the Conservatives are trying to pull a fast one. That is what we are watching out for.

Obviously, in situations like this, we do not have a history of good works, of inclusive consultations and of consensus. I even wonder whether the Conservatives understand the translation of those words. They are words that they are obviously not at all familiar with. If they at least had that past, if they had that approach to doing things, we could say we have major doubts about the subject, but we will discuss it. But no; there is no discussion; everybody has to be quiet and that is it; we have to pass the bill. That is what they expect.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, June 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question.

This is nice; at least we are having a conversation, but really, we are going in circles. This is certainly not because of our questions, but more because of their answers.

The big difference is what is written practically everywhere. Try Googling “Panama” and the first thing you see is “tax haven”. Everyone is talking about that. That is a huge difference, and I think that is enough.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, June 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have been waiting for a long time to have the opportunity to speak on this exciting subject. It was so exciting to once again witness a vote to stop us from speaking. It is rather pathetic. I do not think it is right. I am smiling a little, but there is nothing funny about this. In fact, it is completely disgusting. There is no other word for it.

The people at home who are watching the proceedings of the House of Commons are saying to themselves that, at some point, their member of Parliament will be allowed to speak, but then they realize that he was not allowed to do so or that he was allowed to speak for only two minutes instead of five.

Since this 41st Parliament began, the people in the riding that I represent have been finding that I do not speak very much. The members do not really have the opportunity to speak because 25 gag orders have now been imposed on us. The cynic in me would like to point out that this is our silver gag order. When you get married, you celebrate your silver anniversary after 25 years, so this is our silver gag order. At the rate things are going, we will be celebrating our golden gag order before Christmas. It is absolutely pathetic.

I would like to add that after a while, unfortunately, we get used to this dictatorship and the extreme lack of respect for democracy demonstrated by the members opposite.

I will get back to the matter at hand because, clearly, the Conservatives are amused by my objections to how they are treating us.

With regard to Panama, I read a short paragraph on the Amnesty International website that summarizes the situation. It states:

Safeguards of the human rights of Indigenous Peoples remained inadequate, especially in the context of large infrastructure projects built on Indigenous land. There were concerns about restrictions on freedom of expression.

That is written on the Amnesty International website, and I will come back to this in a moment. However, I would point out that the publication L'État du monde is no more encouraging.

Anyone who follows current events, watches the news and hears anything about free trade with a country might think that this is a free trade agreement with the United States, and that it makes sense because they are our neighbours and we need to makes things easier. When one realizes that we are talking about Panama, one might find that strange and decide to do a little research. That is what we did.

Clearly, during the many committee meetings when we discussed this potential trade agreement, our representatives stated repeatedly how important it was to be cautious and express our concerns about this agreement with Panama. One such person was the hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.

The Canadian government even made some requests of Panama, which refused to sign a tax information exchange agreement. That is another issue. The way I am addressing this is somewhat awkward, but the reality is that Panama is not a simple county to enter into an agreement with.

The Conservatives are saying that this agreement may be a bit complicated, but that we have to trust them. Excuse me? How can we trust them? Do they take us for fools? I am asking the question today for the second time: do they think I am that easily manipulated? It does not make any sense that they want to teach us a lesson and that they are surprised that we want to continue to debate and discuss this subject. Really.

The Conservatives are not proposing something clean and simple; rather, they are proposing a free trade agreement with a country that it is completely legitimate to have doubts about. But no. We do not have the right to do that, apparently. This is another example of the bad faith of this government, which claims that we are against the economy, against progress and against trade. Come on. The Conservatives are always trying to sneak things through and do things at the last minute. They keep everything to themselves and are really the champions of poor communication.

One thing I would like to address is the report found in L'État du monde. It is worth reading a few excerpts.

The second year of Ricardo Martinelli's mandate was marked by considerable tension. His popularity declined rapidly. Many criticized the president's entrepreneurial rhetoric [that sounds familiar], his authoritarian decisions and lack of dialogue.

Goodness me. These are the Conservatives' pals.

Labour code reforms affected unionization conditions and the right to strike, resulting in major demonstrations and a general strike on July 13, 2010...

How about that? It is clear who they have been swapping houses with.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and police in banana production regions resulted in the deaths of at least two people.

Fantastic. Reading that really makes me think, gee, maybe we should trust the Conservatives and let them ram this down our throats without a word of protest. It makes no sense.

Moving on. Here is another really excellent part.

The president's anti-judge [and anti-government official] decisions, appointments of friends to strategic positions and frequent about-faces on critical issues were also the subject of much controversy.

I understand.

I have only one minute left. It is too bad that time is so short. What can I say? We do not have time to fool around here. We put as many bills through the machine as the public can handle. As soon as the Conservatives' popularity plunges, they will become very nice and come and tell us that they want to listen.