SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 197 - May/15/23

May/15/23 4:25:33 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-45

There being no further members rising, pursuant to an order made earlier today, Bill C-45, an act to amend the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, to make consequential amendments to other acts, and to make a clarification relating to another act is deemed read a third time and passed.

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

May/15/23 4:26:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 57 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

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Mr. Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, CPC)

May/15/23 4:27:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as the member for Calgary Centre, to present a petition from my constituents, particularly those who have relatives in Sudan. The petitioners are asking the government to commit more resources and expedite the arrival of Sudanese applicants who have applied for Canadian citizenship, Canadian permanent residence, who have family here. There are permanent residents in Canada who are looking to bring their family and loved ones over. This has to be expedited as quickly as possible. The petitioners are asking for the expedition of this and to be put to the top of the list. Forty months is too long to wait when people are in a conflict zone, and so they are asking the government to make that commitment and get these people processed through its department as quickly as possible.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

May/15/23 4:27:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the tremendous growth of our Indo-Canadian community over the last number of years, members would know that there has been an increased demand for international flights, which is what this petition is dealing with. The petitioners are asking the government, international airlines and regional airport authorities to look at ways to enhance international flights, in particular. It would be wonderful to see something flying right from Winnipeg to Amritsar, India, which is an idea being proposed by many people who signed the petition today.

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Mr. Dan Mazier (Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, CPC)

May/15/23 4:28:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba, to present a petition on the rising rate of crime. The people of Swan River are demanding that the Liberal government repeal its soft-on-crime policies that have fuelled a surge in crime throughout the rural community. The crime severity index in the rural town of 4,000 has increased by over 50% from just five years ago. What was once a safe community has now turned into a place where people fear for their lives because the government's catch-and-release policies have allowed violent repeat offenders to be out on bail instead of in jail. The people of Swan River demand that the Liberal government repeal its soft-on-crime policies that directly threaten their livelihoods in their community, and I fully support the people of Swan River.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

May/15/23 4:29:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As you know, presenting petitions is about presenting them based on what is written in the petitions. For a member to follow up the presentation by saying he or she fully supports it is definitely against the rules.

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The Deputy Speaker

May/15/23 4:29:47 p.m.
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In the interest of time, I will take that under advisement. I will look at it and come back with the rule that we are supposed to be following when it comes to the presenting of petitions.

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

May/15/23 4:30:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table today a petition signed by many concerned Canadians about immigration from Hong Kong. The petitioners note the various circumstances that have unfortunately contributed to the decline of the rule of law in Hong Kong, as well as threats to previous promises that had been made about democracy. The petitioners describe some of those events. They also raise concerns about the impact on the ability of those involved in the democracy movement to come to Canada. The petitioners believe rightly that those who are involved in the democracy movement and have had unjust charges applied to them as a result of their democracy advocacy and involvement in protests should not be prevented from coming to Canada on that basis. There have been various prominent cases of well-known Hong Kongers like Phin Lao and Ray Wong who have experienced challenges coming to Canada as a result of an expectation that they present to police a certificate. There are many other cases from those who are not able to share their names. The petitioners of various backgrounds stand in solidarity with Hong Kongers and others who are concerned about how Canadian immigration needs to not discriminate against those who have been involved in the democracy movement. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of criminal convictions, to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to inadmissibility provisions, to create a mechanism by which Hong Kong people with pro-democracy-related convictions may provide an explanation for such convictions on the basis of which government officials can grant exemptions to Hong Kong people who would otherwise be deemed admissible and to work with other allies, such as the U.K., the U.S., France, Australia and New Zealand, to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kong people who have been convicted for political purposes and who otherwise do not have a criminal record.

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

May/15/23 4:32:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling expresses the opinion of petitioners that strong medical evidence exists that access to psychedelic-assisted therapy can effectively treat existential suffering in dying, depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and other mental health conditions and improve quality of life. The petitioners believe that psilocybin required for psilocybin-assisted therapy is currently only available in clinical trials and by special individual permission from Health Canada, despite its low potential for harm. Further, the petitioners argue that it is paradoxical and unethical to allow MAID in these cases while preventing the same physicians from using this kind of psychedelic-assisted therapy for those in this situation. The petitioners call on the government to allow Canadians to have timely, unrestricted access to therapeutic psilocybin in any form, as needed, to alleviate their suffering via section 56 exemptions.

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

May/15/23 4:33:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling is with regard to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China. The petitioners highlight the history of that persecution, which has now been going on for decades, as well as the work of David Matas and the late great David Kilgour in exposing the issue of forced organ harvesting and trafficking targeting Falun Gong practitioners. The petitioners are calling on Canada's Parliament and the government to do everything they can to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking and to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

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

May/15/23 4:34:15 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-257

Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is in support of Bill C-257. This is a private member's bill that I have put before the House. The petitioners highlight the importance of protecting Canadians from discrimination on the basis of their political beliefs. They recognize it is the fundamental right of all Canadians to be politically active and vocal, and that it is in the best interests of Canadian democracy to protect public debate and the exchange of differing ideas. Bill C-257 seeks to add protection against political discrimination to the Canadian Human Rights Act by adding political activity or belief as prohibited grounds of discrimination. The petitioners call on the House to support Bill C-257 and to defend the rights of Canadians to peacefully express their political opinions.

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

May/15/23 4:35:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I would like to table today deals with another issue of political discrimination. It notes that the Liberal Party of Canada, in its 2021 election platform, put forward a proposal to discriminate against organizations in the application of charitable status if those organizations have views that are different from those of the Liberal Party on the issue of abortion. Charitable status rules already prohibit dishonest conduct and do so on a neutral basis, but the Liberal Party proposal would be to apply another values test, effectively discriminating on the basis of opinions on other issues and preventing organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations from being able to access charitable status on an equal basis. This is opposed by the full charitable sector. A broad range of charitable organizations oppose this proposal from the Liberal Party. The petitioners 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 and religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.

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

May/15/23 4:36:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, next I would like to table a petition that calls for the release of Mr. Huseyin Celil. Mr. Celil is a Canadian citizen who has been unjustly imprisoned in China for over 5,000 days. He is a Canadian citizen and a Uyghur activist who has been detained in China as a result of his advocacy for justice and for the human rights of Uyghurs. The petitioners note that he was taken from Uzbekistan and unlawfully sent to China. The Chinese government has refused to recognize Mr. Celil's Canadian citizenship and denied him access to lawyers, family and Canadian officials. He was coerced into signing a confession and underwent an unlawful and unfair trial. Evidence, the petitioners note, now clearly shows that the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghurs meets most if not all of the criteria of genocide, as outlined in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to demand that the Chinese government recognize Mr. Celil's Canadian citizenship and provide him with consular and legal services, in accordance with international law; to formally state that the release of Mr. Celil from Chinese detainment and his return to Canada are a priority of the Canadian government of equal concern as the unjust detentions 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, as was done in the other cases of arbitrary detention that were mentioned.

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

May/15/23 4:37:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I want to table in the House— An hon. member: Oh, oh! Mr. Garnett Genuis: Mr. Speaker, I am actually going to table one more just to honour the member across the way, who I know appreciates this so much. The second last petition I am going to be tabling raises concerns about proposals put forward for the euthanasia of infants. It notes that Louis Roy of the Collège des médecins du Québec recommended expanding euthanasia to “babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes”. The petitioners are horrified by this proposal. They believe that infanticide is always wrong, that killing children is always wrong and that proposals for legalizing the killing of infants are deeply out of step with the recognition of universal human dignity that should define our criminal law. The petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to block any attempt to legalize the killing of children in Canada.

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

May/15/23 4:38:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition highlights a proposal by the Minister of National Defence's advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination from 2022. It was a proposal to, ironically, discriminate against chaplains from certain faith backgrounds whose faith traditions do not share the presumed progressive direction of the government. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to reject the recommendations on chaplaincy for the Canadian Armed Forces in the final report of the Minister of National Defence's advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination, and to affirm the right of all Canadians, including Canadian Armed Forces chaplains, to freedom of religion.

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The Deputy Speaker

May/15/23 4:39:34 p.m.
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Before proceeding, I thought I would dispense with the point of order the hon. member brought up. House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, 2017, at page 1,192, chapter 22, under “Public Petitions”, says, “No debate is permitted during the presentation of petitions.” If we go to Standing Order 36(7), it also says, “Any comment on the merits of a petition—even a Member’s personal agreement or disagreement with the petitioners—has been deemed to constitute a form of debate and is therefore out of order. Members are permitted a brief factual statement”. This is just a reminder to members who will be presenting petitions at a later date.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

May/15/23 4:40:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, you reading the ruling made me think of something. When you say that a petition is supposed to be brief, is that per petition or per presenter?

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The Deputy Speaker

May/15/23 4:40:33 p.m.
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It is per petition. Once members have the floor, they can, apparently, present as many as they want in the 15 minutes allotted for petitions.

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

May/15/23 4:40:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 1362 to 1367, 1369, 1370 and 1384.

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May/15/23 4:41:19 p.m.
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Question No. 1362—

Questioner: Lindsay Mathyssen

With regard to the defence policy review of “Strong, Secure, Engaged”, announced in budget 2022: (a) what is the total number of contracts signed for professional and management services with third-party service providers; (b) what are the details of all contracts in (a), including the (i) company the contract was awarded to, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) date the contract was awarded, (iv) expected deliverables; and (c) reflected as a number and a percentage, what is the total number of contracts in (a) that were (i) sole-sourced, (ii) awarded through a competitive bidding process?

Question No. 1363—

Questioner: Louise Chabot

With regard to the government’s maximum financial contribution of $260 million through the new Building Canada Fund, under the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component, for the project to extend Highway 19 between Laval and Bois-des-Filion, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec: (a) what is the total amount allocated by the government as part of the agreement for this project; and (b) what are the terms and conditions of the funding agreement for this project?

Question No. 1364—

Questioner: Alex Ruff

With regard to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CIDC) insurance amount of $100,000: (a) since November 4, 2015, have there been any (i) meetings, (ii) reports, (iii) policy briefs, (iv) recommendations proposed, for raising the insurable amount, and, if so, what are the details of each, including the date and summary; (b) through what processes is the CDIC insurable amount determined; and (c) through what processes can the CDIC insurable amount be amended?

Question No. 1365—

Questioner: Taylor Bachrach

With regard to government assessments comparing different procurement options for the proposed High Frequency Rail project: has the government conducted any assessments, and, if so, (i) which external professionals or consultants, if any, were used in conducting the assessments, (ii) which procurement approaches did the assessments consider, (iii) what were determined to be the advantages and disadvantages of each procurement approach considered, (iv) which other transportation projects or jurisdictions were analyzed as part of the assessments?

Question No. 1366—

Questioner: Taylor Bachrach

With regard to Transport Canada's (TC) Small Vessel Compliance Program (SVCP): (a) how many vessels have owners registered with the SVCP since its inception, broken down by year; (b) how many vessels were denied certification after having applied for registration, broken down by postal code and reason for denial; (c) how many vessels registered in each year did not register in the subsequent year; (d) how many small vessels does TC estimate are currently eligible for the SVCP; and (e) how many of the vessels currently certified by the SVCP are commercial towing vessels?

Question No. 1367—

Questioner: Taylor Bachrach

With regard to emission reduction objectives established by the government, per the requirement of the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act: (a) what is the 2026 objective; (b) on what evidence or modelling was the objective based; (c) does the government anticipate Canada will surpass or fall short of its 2026 objective; and (d) what does it estimate the difference of (c) will be, in tons of CO² equivalent emissions?

Question No. 1369—

Questioner: Cheryl Gallant

With regard to Transport Canada's (TC) response to flight delays caused by air traffic controller (ATC) shortages at the Toronto (YYZ), Montreal (YUL) and Vancouver (YVR) airports: (a) what are TC's estimates related to shortages of operational ATCs in (i) 2023, (ii) 2024, (iii) 2025; (b) how many times were ground delays, programs or operational reductions put in place due to a lack of required amount of ATCs, broken down by month and airport; (c) what is the total number of flights that have been impacted in relation to shortages of operational ATCs, broken down by month for the last five years; (d) what was the average length of the delay for the flights impacted; and (e) what is the breakdown of (c) by (i) commercial passenger, (ii) cargo, (iii) private, aircraft?

Question No. 1370—

Questioner: Todd Doherty

With regard to the information leaks about the contents of the budget by senior government sources to multiple media outlets on March 27, 2023, prior to the budget being released on March 28, 2023: (a) did the government launch an investigation to uncover the identity of those who leaked budget information, and, if so, what are the details of the investigation; (b) if no investigation was launched, why not; and (c) does the government have a double standard on investigating leaks based on whether or not the leak is part of a communications strategy initiated or approved by the Office of the Prime Minister?

Question No. 1384—

Questioner: Andrew Scheer

With regard to the government's net debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio calculation: does the government include the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) assets as part of its net debt calculation, and, if so, what is Canada's net debt-to-GDP ratio without using CPP assets as part of its calculation?

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