SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 149 - Jan/30/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jan/30/23 3:14:52 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 199 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

35 words

Hon. Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Lib.)

Jan/30/23 3:15:52 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 20th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, entitled “Future of Hybrid Proceedings in the House of Commons”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive report to this report. I thank all of the people who were involved in making this possible. It was a fruitful conversation that brought our Parliament into the 21st century. I give a special shout-out to Justin, who served as our clerk. I know he will be going on to other adventures. All committee members thank him for his service. With that, I hope that all members take the time to read this very invigorating report.

127 words

Mr. John Nater (Perth—Wellington, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:16:45 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to table the Conservative Party's dissenting report. While there have been some benefits from some aspects of hybrid Parliament, we have undoubtedly witnessed first-hand a lot of shortcomings with it: ministers having an easier job deflecting accountability and an unacceptable burden being place on our interpreters, to name two. It is important to bear in mind that our experience with hybrid Parliament was forged as a pandemic necessity, and we have only now started to experience it in the postpandemic context. That is why Conservatives believe the majority's report goes too far and too fast in recommending a permanent extension of a hybrid Parliament practically as it exists today. Conservatives have long believed that permanent changes to procedural arrangements ought to be the result of multi-party consensus. In the interests of a consensus, Conservatives recommend that the renewal of hybrid proceedings be sunset one year into the next Parliament to allow us time to assess the ongoing implications. We also recommend other changes in the meantime to improve accountability and to reduce the burden on interpreters, such as reverting to entirely in-person chamber proceedings while maintaining the remote voting app and requiring ministers and senior officials to be physically present at committees. The committee's majority chose not to lay out any details to its vision or to suggest how the new standing orders would read. That has placed the ball in the government House leader's court to craft the way forward. A consensus is within reach. We challenge the government House leader to accept it and to turn his back on the divisive and confrontational approach he has preferred to take on the House's hybrid arrangements.

290 words

Hon. Bardish Chagger

Jan/30/23 3:18:27 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees of the House. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 21st report.

57 words

Hon. Bardish Chagger

Jan/30/23 3:19:40 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, since it is the first time I am standing in this House and it is the first day in 2023, I wish you and all loved ones a happy new year, especially the good people of the riding of Waterloo. If the House gives its consent, I move that the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

73 words

The Speaker

Jan/30/23 3:20:00 p.m.
Watch

All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

34 words

All Topics

Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:20:24 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, happy new year. I am tabling a petition on behalf of my constituents who are calling on the Minister of Finance to suspend the federal excise tax and carbon tax for Canadians until the cost-of-living crisis has been resolved. The petitioners are reminding this Parliament and the government as well, in their petition, that the price of gasoline is intended to go up much more and the clean-fuel standard will add onto the cost. The petitioners also refer to the fact that the carbon tax will add even more onto the cost of gasoline and of diesel as well, for those who use diesel for work vehicles. Therefore, they are calling on the Minister of Finance to eliminate the excise tax.

126 words

Mr. John Aldag (Cloverdale—Langley City, Lib.)

Jan/30/23 3:20:59 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from people within my riding and beyond. In Cloverdale—Langley City, immigration is very important, and there have been some concerns raised about how the interest to sponsor form was handled coming out of the pandemic. That is the intention of the petition.

53 words

Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:21:22 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to stand in this place to be able to share the concerns that are petitioned by so many Canadians, and today I would like to present two. The first petition is that many Canadians would like to draw the attention of the House of Commons to some recent comments that had been made at the joint committee studying medical assistance in dying. I quote Louis Roy from the Quebec college of physicians who said, “babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes”. The undersigned citizens on this petition call on the Government of Canada to block any attempt to allow the killing of children. It is shameful that it even has to be said in this place.

139 words

Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:22:47 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by a host of Canadians. They draw attention to the fact that the Liberal Party, in its 2021 platform, promised to deny the charitable status of organizations that have certain convictions. It reeks of a values test 2.0 where the government politicized charitable status in this country. Therefore, the undersigned citizens of Canada call upon the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test. The petitioners affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression. It is a pleasure to table these two petitions here today.

124 words

Mr. Larry Brock (Brantford—Brant, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:23:39 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, almost a year ago, Russia launched an unprovoked war against the people of Ukraine. Every day, the world was shocked by numerous war crimes. Russian armed forces have repeatedly engaged in violent, indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets, including hospitals, schools, residential buildings and shelters. Starting in October, Russia intensified its strikes on Ukraine's energy system to shut down the power grid and to cause a humanitarian disaster during the winter. In fact, it has launched more than 5,000 missiles at Ukraine since the beginning of this war. The PACE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies have labelled Russia a terrorist regime. More so, the European Parliament has similarly declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. All members of the House unanimously recognized Russian aggression in Ukraine as an act of genocide. Now Canadians who have signed this petition are calling on the government to immediately designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

157 words

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jan/30/23 3:24:57 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise this afternoon to present a petition on behalf of petitioners who note that Canada has had an electoral system since its inception called “first past the post” that allows a political party to win a majority of seats and all of the power while having less than half the popular vote. They point out that proportional representation is a really critical principle that calls for the percentage of seats in the House to equate to the percentage of votes received by that political party. If a party gets 40% of the popular vote, they say that it should get 40% of the seats. They also point out that countries around the world such as Germany, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and many others have progressed from a first-past-the-post system to a proportional representation system already. The petitioners move for the Government of Canada to push toward a PR electoral system to bring credible representation to all Canadians.

169 words

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:26:08 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development is currently undertaking an important study on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh, and the blockade of the Lachin corridor. I am tabling a petition about the situation in that region. It was a petition signed prior to the start of the blockade, but it does have a number of asks that are relevant to that ongoing situation, including a call on the Government of Canada to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to ensure the safety and viability of the population of Artsakh and facilitate the exchange of the remains of fatalities. It also calls on the Government of Canada to denounce aggressive rhetoric from Turkey and Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh and to condemn state-sponsored hatred. Furthermore, it notes the illegal detention of prisoners of war and calls on the Government of Canada to use the tools available to it to advocate for the release of captives. I hope I join certainly all members of the House in calling for an end to the blockade of the Lachin corridor and efforts to pursue peace in the region.

191 words

All Topics

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:27:33 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling highlights the ongoing detention of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen detained in China for over a decade and a half. The Chinese government has refused to accept Mr. Celil's Canadian citizenship and continues to deny access to lawyers, family members and Canadian officials. We must continue to be persistent in highlighting this case and calling for his release. Petitioners want to see the Government of Canada demand the recognition of Huseyin Celil's Canadian citizenship and provide him with consular and legal services in accordance with international law, to formally state that the release of Huseyin Celil is a priority of the Canadian government of equal concern to the unjust detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, to appoint a special envoy to work on securing Mr. Celil's release and to seek the assistance of the Biden administration and other allies around the world in obtaining Mr. Celil's release.

160 words

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Jan/30/23 3:28:10 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as it is my first chance to address you in the year 2023 and if there is no statute of limitations on it, happy new year. I am honoured to present a petition from my constituents. As many petitions before this one have attested, residents of British Columbia are deeply concerned that the populations of Pacific salmon are in free fall. One of the proximate reasons for that is the presence of what are referred to in some context as fish farms. My constituents prefer to call them toxic fish factories. There has been guidance from the Cohen commission and others that these operations should be removed from the migratory routes of Pacific salmon, but these petitioners point to a specific problem, and that is that the mandate for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans includes both regulating aquaculture and promoting aquaculture. The petitioners call for this conflict of interest to be removed such that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans protects the marine ecosystem particularly for the sustainability of the Fraser River sockeye.

176 words

All Topics

Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:29:33 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour and privilege to rise today to present a number of petitions. The first one is from Canadians from across the country who are still concerned around the implementation of vaccine passports on Canadian citizens. They note the Government of Canada has suspended these things for the time being and they are asking for the Government of Canada to abolish these things. They are calling for an end to all federally regulated COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.

83 words

All Topics

Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:30:03 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, my next petition is from Canadians across the country who are concerned about the Liberal Party's campaign platform to revoke charitable status from pro-life organizations such as crisis pregnancy care centres, which counsel young women and save countless lives every day. Revoking charitable status would politicize charitable status and would be the first step to even more measures to eradicate the values and principles of Christian Canadians. Revoking the charitable status of pro-life organizations would result in an explosion in the number of folks who are unable to get help in a time of crisis. Therefore, the folks who have signed this petition are calling on members of Parliament to do everything they can to prevent the revocation of charitable status from pro-life organizations.

130 words

Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Jan/30/23 3:30:50 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the next petition is from Canadians across Canada who are appalled by the statements of Louis Roy of the Collège des médecins du Québec, who recommended that we legalize the killing of babies from birth to one year of age who have severe deformities and syndromes. The killing of infants is deeply disturbing to these Canadians and they state that infanticide is always wrong. Therefore, they call on the Government of Canada and this Parliament to block any attempt to legalize infanticide.

90 words

Mr. Charlie Angus

Jan/30/23 3:31:37 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is not up to me to tell the Speaker about the rules of House, which you have such great respect for, but I have heard one editorializing comment after another, and that is not what petitions are for. Members are supposed to simply stick to the petition. Throwing in all of these extra attacks on people who believe in women's reproductive rights is not fair game.

77 words

The Speaker

Jan/30/23 3:32:01 p.m.
Watch

I am not here to bring judgment down on what is said and what is not said. The Speaker's role is to remind members of what the rules are. I was going to remind members before the next presentation that they should present a very short synopsis of every petition and not go on for a while. I am going to leave it at that. I will remind hon. members the next time I ask for petitions what petitions are for. I have let them run on a bit, and I will admit to that. I thank the member for bringing that up. I will let the hon. member for Peace River—Westlock continue.

116 words