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House of Commons Debates VOLUME 148 Ï NUMBER 200 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 42nd PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Monday, September 18, 2017 Speaker: The Honourable Geoff Regan CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 13111 HOUSE OF COMMONS Monday, September 18, 2017 The House met at 11 a.m. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS [Translation] Prayer NATIONAL SICKLE CELL AWARENESS DAY ACT (Bill S-211. On the Order: Government Orders) Ï (1100) March 30, 2017—Consideration at report stage of Bill S-211, An act respecting [Translation] national sickle cell awareness day—Mr. Fisher The Speaker: On Thursday, September 14, 2017, the hon. VACANCIES member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour informed me in writing that STURGEON RIVER—PARKLAND, ROBERVAL—LAC-SAINT-JEAN, he would be unable to move his motion during the hour provided for SCARBOROUGH—AGINCOURT private members' business. Since it was not possible to arrange an exchange of positions in the order of precedence, I am directing the The Speaker: It is my duty to inform the House that vacancies clerk to drop that item of business to the bottom of the order of have occurred in the representation, namely the Hon. Rona precedence. Private members' hour will therefore be suspended. Ambrose, member for the electoral district of Sturgeon River— Parkland, by resignation effective Tuesday, July 4, 2017; the Hon. Denis Lebel, member for the electoral district of Roberval—Lac- Saint-Jean, by resignation effective Wednesday, August 9, 2017. GOVERNMENT ORDERS Pursuant to paragraph 25(1)(b) of the Parliament of Canada Act, I have addressed my warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer for the [English] issue of writs for the election of new members to fill these vacancies. CUSTOMS ACT [English] Hon. Ralph Goodale (Minister of Public Safety and Emer- It is also my duty to inform the House that a vacancy has occurred gency Preparedness, Lib.) moved that Bill C-21, An Act to amend in the representation in the House of Commons for the electoral the Customs Act, be read the second time and referred to a district of Scarborough—Agincourt, in the province of Ontario by committee. reason of the passing of Arnold Chan. He said: Mr. Speaker, may I begin by welcoming you and and all other members back to the House of Commons to our business on Pursuant to subsection 28(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act, I behalf of Canadians. have addressed a warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill the vacancy. Reflecting on the announcements that you just made at the opening of this session, members will obviously see behind me the *** vacant desk that was formerly occupied by the member for Scarborough—Agincourt, adorned today with flowers in his BOARD OF INTERNAL ECONOMY memory. We all think very fondly of our friend and colleague who The Speaker: I have the honour to inform the House that Mr. passed so suddenly just a few days ago. We all share the grief of his Strahl, the member for the electoral district of Chilliwack—Hope, loss. has been appointed a member of the Board of Internal Economy in the place of Mr. Brown, the member for the electoral district of However, if there is one bit of advice that Arnold Chan would Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, for the give this House, it would be to proceed with the public business of purposes and under the provisions of section 50 of the Parliament of Canada and to do so with substance, civility, and strength. We will Canada Act. all strive to do that in his memory. 13112 COMMONS DEBATES September 18, 2017 Government Orders Today we are beginning this fall sitting of the House with a debate This is also useful retrospectively if an abductor has taken a child on Bill C-21, legislation that will amend the Customs Act to enable out of the country. For example, if a child is discovered missing in the collection of certain basic exit information when someone the afternoon and the exit data show that the child crossed into crosses the border to leave our country. This bill will close a gap in Vermont that morning, that is obviously extremely helpful for our security and administrative framework by giving a clearer investigators in both countries as they work together to bring the picture of who is actually exiting Canada at any given moment in child home safely and to apprehend the abductor. time so that we can better ensure the efficient movement of legitimate trade and travel and keep our border secure. [Translation] Every day, around 400,000 people and $2.5 billion in bilateral trade cross the Canada-U.S. border in both directions. We and our The same principle would apply in the case of known high-risk American counterparts have frequently reiterated our shared travellers, such as fugitives from justice or radicalized individuals. commitment to creating an even safer border that promotes even Combatting the phenomenon of Canadians participating in terrorist greater prosperity, two goals that go hand in hand. The bill before us activities abroad is a key priority for our government and, I am sure, today is a big step toward achieving those goals. for Parliament. The collection of basic exit information would be an Ï (1105) important new tool for our national security agencies in this regard. [English] It would likely come as a surprise to most Canadians that basic exit information is not collected already. We do, of course, take careful note of people arriving in Canada, but until now, we have only collected exit data on foreign nationals and permanent residents It would also be useful in Canada's efforts to combat human leaving the country. By contrast, most other countries keep track of trafficking. It could help police determine the location of a suspect or who leaves as well as who arrives. We need to address this security a victim of human trafficking. It could help determine the travel loophole and in effect catch up to the rest of the world. patterns of suspects or victims, which in turn makes it easier to identify human smuggler destinations or implicated criminal The exit information that will be collected is brief, basic, and organizations, and it could help police to identify other suspects or unobtrusive. It is the name, nationality, date of birth, gender, and the victims by learning who is travelling with the individual in question. issuing authority of the travel document—in other words, nothing All of this information is invaluable not only for the advancement of more than what is found in the normal course on page 2 of one's human-trafficking investigations but also later in the criminal justice passport, along with, of course, the time and the place of one's process in support of ensuing prosecutions. departure. This information will be gathered without imposing any new requirements on the travelling public. When a person leaves Canada by land, they will, as usual, show their passport to a U.S. border officer and the U.S. will automatically send the information on page 2 back to Canada. For those leaving by air, air carriers will collect the basic passport data from passenger Bill C-21 would also help immigration officials to make better- manifests and provide it to the Canada Border Services Agency informed decisions and better use of their resources. With access to before departure. reliable exit data, immigration officials would be able to base their decisions on a more complete and accurate picture of an applicant's As a result, Canadian authorities will be better able to manage our travel history. When conducting investigations, they would be able border, combat cross-border crime, respond to national security to prioritize activities and resources by focusing on people who are threats, prevent the illegal export of controlled goods, ensure the actually still in Canada rather than wasting time looking for someone integrity of our immigration system, and protect taxpayer dollars who has already left. against the abuse of certain government programs. As an example of how the bill would help with police investigations, take the case of Amber Alerts. When an alert is issued, the RCMP would ask the Canada Border Services Agency to create a lookout for the missing child or for a suspected abductor. Bill C-21 would also help to protect taxpayer dollars by reducing If information relayed to CBSA by U.S. border officials matched fraud and abuse of certain federal programs with residency that lookout, CBSA would alert the RCMP that the person had left requirements. By establishing when people leave Canada, we would the country. The RCMP could then coordinate with its American be able to better determine who is and who is not eligible for certain counterparts to locate the child and apprehend the offender, knowing benefits. Of course, when people are entitled to benefits based on precisely when and where they left Canada. If the lookout matched their residence in Canada, those benefits are properly and generously someone on the passenger manifest of an imminent outbound flight, provided by Canadian taxpayers, but eligibility criteria exist for a police could intercept the abductor at the airport and rescue the child reason, and Canadians expect the government to administer these before departure. programs accurately. September 18, 2017 COMMONS DEBATES 13113 Government Orders Let me be clear: people collecting benefits in accordance with the border service officer whenever one seeks to enter another country. It law would not be affected in any way.