Ted Hsu

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 17th, 2012]

With regard to the Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Minister of Industry: (a) what are the mandates or instructions given by the Ministers to the following institutions, (i) National Research Council, (ii) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, (iii) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, (iv) Canadian Institutes of Health Research; (b) what files, records, documents, materials and information, directives, policies or other information were provided to the Ministers in order for them to give the instructions to the institutions in (a); and (c) what files, records, documents, and other materials, regarding or containing ministerial instructions, directives, policies or other information, were provided by Minister of State for Science and Technology or the Minister of Industry to the various departmental heads, personnel and officials of the institutions in (a) regarding or containing procedural or instructional directives?

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 17th, 2012]

With regard to the government’s policy on seeking clemency for Canadians sentenced to death abroad: (a) under what circumstances will the government seek clemency; (b) when was the current policy adopted; (c) who proposed the current policy; and (d) how was it adopted?

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in any large organization that one is managing, it is impossible, very inefficient and very expensive to try to micro-manage and keep track of what every single person in that large institution is doing. That is why it is so important, at a senior management level, to take control of the culture of an organization that one is managing.

My question to my hon. colleague is whether or not this bill reassures him and makes him believe that change in culture will occur at the RCMP.

[Petitions, June 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition about the Experimental Lakes Area.

As many people know, this is an area in northern Ontario consisting of over 50 lakes, which is internationally renowned as an area where freshwater ecosystems and the effect of pollution on freshwater ecosystems are studied in their whole over a period of many years and decades. It is a unique laboratory for studying the freshwater ecosystems that we need here in Canada to live.

The petitioners ask the federal government to not cut federal funding for the Experimental Lakes Area.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 14th, 2012]

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I think there is a difference in standing up and cheering about something one of our hon. colleagues has said. However, it is somewhat disrespectful of the voting process to make a regular habit of applauding at the beginning of each round of voting. I think there is a difference and that the Standing Orders--

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 13th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I see as a contradiction between the government's budget policy and one of the items in Bill C-38.

On the one hand, in the budget the government would try to encourage innovation in Canada through the federal government's procurement policy. So, for example, the federal government would make procurements from small and medium-sized enterprises that are innovative and provide some funding for that. It is good to use government procurement, which involves a lot of spending, to encourage innovation.

On the other hand, in Bill C-38, the federal Fair Wages Act would be repealed. This amounts to the government actually doing the opposite. Instead of preventing companies from competing with one another on the basis of lowering wages, it would encourage that by repealing the federal Fair Wages Act, and that is not a good way to encourage innovation. It would just encourage more competition—

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, June 5th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I was just looking at openparliament.ca, where I found a quote by the Minister of the Environment on February 6 in question period. He said, “Our government believes that what gets measured gets done”. That is exactly what my colleague, the member for St. Paul's, said.

I think we should believe the minister when he says that in question period, of course. What that must mean is that if the government does not want to do something, it will try as hard as it can to avoid measuring it.

I was wondering if my colleague would comment on the relevance of that quote.

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, June 5th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, in the United States, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there was an administrative order in December of last year which told its scientists in the United States that they should talk about their research to the public and even talk about their own personal opinions on government policy, as long as they made it clear it was their personal opinion.

In stark contrast to the Canadian government's policy, why would the United States government want its scientists talking to the public about their research?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, June 5th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, in my opinion, this government fears criticism.

In the hon. member's opinion, what do the scientists who were muzzled have to say that could scare the government?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, June 5th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member to give us an example of how Archives Canada has revealed or provided evidence of an error made in the past and provided us with the opportunity to correct it, reconcile with the past and move forward to the future.