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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 93

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 21, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 93 - Jun/21/22
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:07:53 a.m.
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Sorry, we have a point of order. The hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.
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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant
  • Jun/21/22 11:07:55 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, according to the rules, the number of questions is supposed to be according to the proportion of people in a given party and what they received in votes at election time, instead of just going party to party. Since there were more votes and more seats won by the Conservatives, we should be getting more questions rather than just merely going around in a circle.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:08:19 a.m.
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It is up to the Speaker to decide who speaks, and I am being fair. Members will see that certainly when it comes to the government, because it is its motion, the Liberals are getting fewer questions. Returning to the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Jun/21/22 11:08:38 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, hopefully the Conservatives will not interrupt a third or fourth or fifth time. It just proves my point of how disruptive they have been. They have abandoned their voters and come to the House and they just cause chaos. That is what they seem to think their role is, and it is tragic. We saw that at committee, and now they are blocking a bill that needs to go to committee for improvements. There is no doubt that there needs to be work done and witnesses need to be heard from. Why are Conservatives refusing to have the legislative process that allows for due consideration for witnesses, for amendments and for improvements on a bill?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/21/22 11:09:23 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, I do not know why. I wish Canadians could get into the heads of some of the tactics that we have seen here in this chamber. We embrace the idea of having a very vigorous debate about how to better protect our communities from gun violence, but, instead, we saw on the first day that was scheduled for Bill C-21 that Conservatives filibustered and we have seen similar tactics at committee. As my hon. colleague the leader for the NDP in this chamber pointed out, it is not just on the matters related to public safety. It is on matters related to creating jobs, improving the economy, dealing with climate change and dealing with priorities related to Health Canada. I do want to take a moment to thank the New Democrats for their efforts at making this chamber work, which is what the vast majority of Canadians are entitled to expect from us, especially on matters related to public safety.
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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)
  • Jun/21/22 11:10:14 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. The hon. minister has talked about the fact that we need to have resolute debate in this place, and here we have the antithesis of that, the cutting off of debate with the help of the government's coalition partners in the NDP. How does the minister reconcile the fact that Conservatives are more than prepared to address certain aspects of this bill and more than prepared to split the bill and put it forward on the areas we agree on? Constantly, we hear we cannot get things done because we are not agreeing on things. Here we are, prepared to agree, and it is the Liberals who are pushing that away. How does the minister reconcile that with his recent comments?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/21/22 11:10:59 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, the hon. member is saying, on the one hand, from his mouth to this chamber, that the Conservatives are prepared to work on certain elements of the bill and then, earlier this morning, we heard the House leader for the Conservative Party of Canada saying there is nothing in this bill that would protect Canadians. It is for that colleague to reconcile that logical inconsistency. Canadians expect better. My hon. colleague, as a very accomplished, very intelligent individual member in this chamber, knows full well that the debate of Bill C-21 will continue at committee, where, of course, we embrace the exchange of ideas and potential improvements and amendments to the bill so we can better protect Canadians from the scourge of gun violence. I would urge the member to vote in support of this motion so that we can continue debate at committee.
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Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Jun/21/22 11:12:04 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, I am getting sick and tired of hearing the government call out the opposition for doing its job. The Liberal government has moved a series of closure motions in the past month and is now blaming the Conservatives and the Bloc for the lack of progress. The government cannot criticize the opposition for doing its job. It cannot criticize members on this side of the House for asking questions. The government keeps imposing closure because it cannot manage its own legislative agenda, even with the support of the NDP. I listen to my NDP friends during question period, and I am not sure if they have noticed this, but no one listens to their questions anymore. No one is interested in what they have to say. They should give us their questions. Ever since they cozied up to the government, no one is interested in what they have to say. They criticize us for obstructing our work here, even though we are here to ask questions. That is what we have been doing since the beginning of this session.
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/21/22 11:13:09 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's passion for the subject. On this side, we understand our responsibility, which is to protect all Canadians. That is exactly why we need to move forward with debate on this bill—to better protect Canadians across Canada, including Quebeckers. As a matter of fact, it was the Bloc that encouraged the government to take more action. We must take action. Debate on this bill is our opportunity to better protect all Canadians. That is our priority.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Jun/21/22 11:13:52 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, we need to talk about the question from the member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert. Obviously, Quebeckers are watching and listening to the NDP's questions, because we are seeing growing support in Quebec polls. As my colleagues know, if we had proportional representation—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:14:15 a.m.
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Order. The member for Battle River—Crowfoot on a point of order.
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Mr. Damien Kurek
  • Jun/21/22 11:14:25 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, it is my understanding that, when time allocation is moved, it is an opportunity not for the NDP to defend its actions and the decisions it has made in this place, but rather an opportunity for the government to defend the shutting down of debate on a particular—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:14:43 a.m.
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This is more a point of debate. The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Jun/21/22 11:14:52 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, Bloc and Conservative members are so sensitive. It is incredible.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:14:57 a.m.
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The member for Provencher on a point of order.
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Mr. Ted Falk
  • Jun/21/22 11:15:00 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, I know it is at the discretion of the Chair, but it seems to me there are a lot of members who would like their opinions expressed here during this debate, and you keep deferring to the same member of the NDP. I think it is time to spread out the questions.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Jun/21/22 11:15:12 a.m.
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It depends upon who within the party gets up, so I would just indicate again that it is at the will of the Chair to recognize members. The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Jun/21/22 11:15:25 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. You do an excellent job. I know that it is not easy when there are parties that are blocking everything and that do not want to co-operate. You do an excellent job, and I thank you on behalf of all Canadians. In my opinion, there is an unhealthy dynamic here. Some members are blocking everything. They do not want things to move forward. They do not want anything to be studied in committee. They do not want to hear from witnesses. They do not want any subamendments to be proposed and they do not want the bills to be improved. I have a simple question for my colleague. Why are these parties refusing to improve the bills?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/21/22 11:16:10 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, honestly, I do not have an answer to his question because what the government cares about is working with all members on one of the highest priorities for the country, and that is protecting all Canadians. Even in Quebec, we are working on this bill with the mayor of Montreal, the mayor of Quebec City and my provincial government counterpart in a spirit of co-operation. We want to continue the debate in committee. That is why we need to move forward in a spirit of co-operation.
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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Jun/21/22 11:17:01 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Madam Speaker, I completely agree with the member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert that invoking closure over and over again sets a dangerous precedent. I am someone who has been in the House long enough to remember when time allocation was rare. When Stephen Harper started bringing it in over and over again, I counted. I put to the ministers then that between 1920 and 2000, we had seen these kinds of debates 40 times, and in the previous 18 months we had seen them 40 times. I would urge my hon. friends in the Liberal Party and in the NDP to consider what we are doing here. When we make time allocation routine, it means that the next government in the next session will weaponize it further, and the rights of individual MPs to debate bills properly will be further eroded. I ask them to please not do this thing.
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