SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 320 - May/29/24

May/29/24 6:04:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will move the motion, then, in the same way that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills did. What was agreed to, he read, and then he moved into parts that were not agreed to. I will read what he and other parties have already agreed to. We would then, from that moment on, move forward with the kind of committee resources that need to be allocated to treat the bill effectively. I will read the UC motion: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House— Some hon. members: No.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:05:24 p.m.
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The hon. member does not have unanimous consent to move the motion. We will allow the hon. member to continue his speech.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:05:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are saying no to the motion that they presented to us. That is unbelievable.

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Unbelievable

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:05:40 p.m.
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The hon. House leader of the official opposition is rising on a point of order.

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Rising

Hon. Andrew Scheer

May/29/24 6:05:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives proposed a unanimous consent motion to make sure the bill was passed with enough time for the various government departments to implement it. What the NDP is proposing is to not have an end date. We want the bill passed.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:06:00 p.m.
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That may be debate. Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to read the motion to the end? Some hon. members: Oh, oh! The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): Order. The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby would like to read the motion and move the motion.

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Deputy

Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:06:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, they cannot shut me down from reading the motion, but you do have the right to then ask whether or not members of the House agree to it. I am in the middle of my speech, so they cannot shout down the motion. I am going to read it for the record, and Conservatives will tell us then whether they agree to the motion that they drafted.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:06:43 p.m.
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The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. John Brassard

May/29/24 6:06:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the point is that when the member started reading the motion, we had no indication of what that motion might be. We do not agree with whatever it is. He gave no indication of what motion he was proposing.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:07:01 p.m.
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We will let the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby put on the record what the motion is, and then we can give unanimous consent or not. The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:07:10 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-70

Madam Speaker, this is the motion: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-70, an act respecting countering foreign interference, shall be disposed of as follows: (a) at the expiry of the time provided for government orders later today, the bill be deemed adopted at second reading and referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security; (b) during the consideration of the bill by the committee: (1) the committee shall have the first priority for the use of House resources for committee meetings; (2) the committee shall meet for extended hours on Monday, June 3; Tuesday, June 4; Wednesday, June 5; and Thursday, June 6, 2024, to gather evidence from witnesses; (3) the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, the officials from the RCMP and CSIS, the national security adviser to the Prime Minister, the officials from the Department of Public Safety and other expert witnesses deemed relevant by the committee be invited to appear; (4) all amendments be submitted to the clerk of the committee by 9 a.m. on Monday, June 10, 2024; and (5) amendments filed by independent members shall be deemed to have been proposed during the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill. This was drafted by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I hope it will receive unanimous consent.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:08:43 p.m.
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Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to present the motion? An hon. member: No. The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): The hon. member does not have unanimous consent.

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Deputy

Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:09:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am flabbergasted about the bad faith of the Conservatives in the House. They draft something, there is agreement, and then they simply refuse to pass the motion that was agreed to. I find it unbelievable that, when we are talking about something as important as foreign interference, Conservatives would play these partisan games. The member for Wellington—Halton Hills was very clear, in speaking to the media, that the Conservatives wanted to work with other parties to get the bill through the House. The motion I just read, which was drafted by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, would allow us to do that. It would allow for the additional resources at committee next week. It would allow for the public safety committee to hear the witnesses that all parties wanted. It would allow for a deadline on amendments, which would mean the committee would finish with its witnesses on June 6, and then Monday, June 10, at 9 a.m. would be the deadline for amendments. The member for Wellington—Halton Hills drafted it. We agreed. The member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford agreed. We have other parties agreeing. Conservatives want to block what they drafted. I am flabbergasted. I have not seen this since the Harper regime, when there was bad faith constantly from the Conservative government. We could not negotiate. I would underscore—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:10:42 p.m.
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The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. John Brassard

May/29/24 6:10:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to ask for unanimous consent to table the entirety of what the member for Wellington—Halton Hills proposed in his unanimous consent motion, and not half of it, which is what the member read. I propose to table that. I am seeking unanimous consent. An hon. member: No.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:11:06 p.m.
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The hon. member does not have unanimous consent.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:11:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have worked in labour negotiations, as have members of my party, such as the members for Vancouver Kingsway, Port Moody—Coquitlam, Courtenay—Alberni and Nanaimo—Ladysmith. We have all been involved in negotiations. It is not rocket science. One drafts something up, and what is agreed to is what is put forward. The member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford very clearly indicated what we agreed to, which would advance the bill. Now Conservatives are playing with it. Why are they playing with foreign interference? Why are they not negotiating in good faith? It is very simple. What was drafted at first had all of the elements the member for Wellington—Halton Hills wanted. I have just put forward all of the elements that we very clearly communicated that we agreed to. Now Conservatives are saying that they reject what was already agreed to by the other parties. It is Conservatives who are blocking the committee resources we need for next week. They are blocking us having a deadline for amendments. I do not understand this at all, in part because my background, like that of many of my colleagues in the NDP, is to negotiate in good faith, where what is agreed to is what we move on to. We do not agree to something and then present something different. I am stunned by what I can only see as bad faith from Conservatives on this. They told Canadians that they wanted to move forward with the other parties. We have given our consent to what I just presented, which gives ample room for further negotiations, and Conservatives say, no, they are not even going to do that. I have a few minutes left, Madam Speaker, and I want to flag to you that I will be presenting a second UC that would have second reading deemed adopted. That would mean, hopefully, that we would have good-faith negotiations from all parties to agree on the resources that would be needed for the committee next week. As was stated in the motion that was drafted by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, increased resources are necessary. That would require a resolution of the House. Again, it is not rocket science. We need to have a UC to move that through. We have the witnesses that all parties agreed to, including other expert witnesses deemed relevant by the committee, to be invited to appear. We have an amendment deadline of 9 a.m. on Monday, June 10. We also have that key provision that independent members need to have their amendments considered as well. Otherwise, as we have seen, it complicates the report stage of the bill. All of the elements are here, and Conservatives seem to be refusing it. As I have a few minutes left, I will try one more time, and I cannot be shouted down. The motion states: That, notwithstanding any Standing Order, special order, or usual practice of the House, Bill C-70, an act respecting countering foreign interference, shall be disposed of as follows: (a) at the expiry of the time provided for government orders later today, the bill would be deemed adopted at second reading and referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security; (b) during the consideration of the bill by the committee: (1) the committee shall have the first priority for the use of House resources for committee meetings; (2) the committee shall meet for— Some hon. members: No.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:15:15 p.m.
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I have to advise the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby that we have already heard a no.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/29/24 6:15:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do have the right to finish reading this, although I understand it has not been given unanimous consent. I am going to read the rest of it for the record because Canadians need to hear this: (b) during the consideration of the bill by the committee: (1) the committee shall have the first priority for the use of House resources for committee meetings; (2) the committee shall meet for extended hours on Monday, June 3; Tuesday, June 4; Wednesday, June 5; and Thursday, June 6, to gather evidence from witnesses; (3) the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions, and Intergovernmental Affairs, the officials from the RCMP and CSIS, the national security and intelligence adviser to the Prime Minister, the officials from the Department of Public Safety and other expert witnesses deemed relevant by the committee be invited to appear; (4) all amendments be submitted to the clerk of the committee by 9 a.m. on Monday, June 10; (5) amendments filed by independent members shall be deemed to have been proposed during the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill. Conservatives drafted that motion, and Conservatives are now saying no. That is bad faith from any standpoint. They have obviously not been involved in labour negotiations or employer-employee negotiations before because, quite frankly, that would never pass muster. It is, quite frankly, profoundly disappointing that Conservatives are refusing to agree to what was proposed to us and what we agreed to. Madam Speaker, if you could signal when I have one minute left, I would appreciate that because I am going to read a second unanimous consent motion that this bill be deemed adopted at second reading and referred to the standing committee. At least that would permit negotiations for a second UC to provide the committee resources we will need. I am also profoundly disappointed. We did have good faith negotiations last summer, which resulted in the Hogue commission. There was no playing around. There was a sincere attempt by all recognized parties to work together. The result, I think, is something important. The Hogue commission has made a big difference already with the interim report that was issued by the justice. We will see a final report at the end of this year that will also chart a path. We have to take foreign interference seriously. As the member for Trois-Rivières has said very eloquently, we all have to work together on this. That means the kind of good-faith negotiations that allow us to work through the various stages, hear from the witnesses and improve the bill to resolve the legitimate concerns that people have. We all support the intent of the bill, the principle of the bill. We need to hear from witnesses, and we need to make sure, after hearing from witnesses, that we are able to move forward. That is why we proposed, twice, an amendment deadline of June 10 at 9 a.m., which would allow us to do just that. This is not something that should be played around with and not something that folks should be partisan about. This is something where all parties need to work in good faith together. That is why I am proposing a second motion for unanimous consent. I move: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders later today, Bill C-70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference, be deemed read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee Public Safety and National Security.

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Witnesses

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/29/24 6:19:14 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay. It is agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

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