House of Commons Debates VOLUME 147 Ï NUMBER 007 Ï 2nd SESSION Ï 41st PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Thursday, October 24, 2013 Speaker: The Honourable Andrew Scheer CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 321 HOUSE OF COMMONS Thursday, October 24, 2013 The House met at 10 a.m. [Translation] Ms. Françoise Boivin: Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to move the following motion: That, Prayers notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, clauses 471 and 472 related to the appointment of Supreme Court justices be withdrawn from Bill C-4, A second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS 2013 and other measures, and do compose Bill C-6; that Bill C-6 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for second Ï (1005) reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing [English] Committee on Justice and Human Rights; that Bill C-4 retain the status on the Order Paper that it had prior to the adoption of this FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS AND REPORTS ANALYSIS order; that Bill C-4 be reprinted as amended; and that the law clerk CENTRE and parliamentary counsel be authorized to make any technical The Speaker: I have the honour to lay upon the table the audit changes and corrections as may be necessary to give effect to this report of the Privacy Commissioner concerning the Financial motion. Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. You understand, Mr. Speaker, that it is important that this motion *** be adopted unanimously. The government has found itself in a OFFSHORE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT predicament over the appointment of Justice Nadon. What is more, yesterday we found out that the Government of Quebec is Hon. Lisa Raitt (for the Minister of Natural Resources) moved challenging the reference to the Supreme Court of Canada, the for leave to introduce Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Canada- government's assumption that it can proceed in such a way and the Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, the Canada- two provisions included in the mammoth bill. I think that this is an Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation important debate, one that cannot simply be relegated to a footnote at Act and other Acts and to provide for certain other measures. the end of a budget bill. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed) The Speaker: Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent *** of the House to move the motion? ELIMINATION OF PARTISAN GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING ACT Some hon. members: Agreed. Mr. David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Lib.) moved for leave to introduce Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Auditor General Act Some hon. members: No. (government advertising). *** He said: Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to introduce my private member's bill, the elimination of partisan government [English] advertising act. It would amend the Auditor General Act to appoint an advertising commissioner to oversee government spending on PETITIONS advertising. It is time to bring Canada's advertising rules into the 21st century. The appointment of an advertising commissioner would THE ENVIRONMENT provide accountability for all Canadians. Mr. Mike Sullivan (York South—Weston, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I I call on my colleagues from all sides of the House to support this have the honour to table petitions signed by my constituents calling bill and work with me to eliminate partisan government advertising. on the government to protect Canada's lakes and rivers, including the (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed) Humber River in my riding. 322 COMMONS DEBATES October 24, 2013 Government Orders CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION GOVERNMENT ORDERS Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, [Translation] I have the honour to rise today to present two petitions. The first is from residents in my riding, Brentwood Bay, Saanich and throughout ECONOMIC ACTION PLAN 2013 ACT, NO. 2 Saanich to the Gulf Islands. The petitioners are calling for full and BILL C-4—TIME ALLOCATION MOTION stable funding and protection for our national broadcaster, the CBC. Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House I am also presenting a similar petition from residents throughout of Commons, CPC) moved: other areas of British Columbia as well as Saskatchewan. That, in relation to Bill C-4, A second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures, not more than [Translation] four further sitting days shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of this Bill; and VIA RAIL That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the fourth day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of Ms. Lise St-Denis (Saint-Maurice—Champlain, Lib.): Mr. this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by nearly 2,000 the Bill shall be put forthwith and successfully, without further debate or amendment. people for the government's consideration regarding the cuts announced by VIA Rail. These cuts will have a negative impact [English] on users of the train stations in Haut-Saint-Maurice, in terms of both The Speaker: Pursuant to Standing Order 67(1), there will now passenger services to remote communities and services to our be a 30-minute question period. We will try to keep questions to a communities. minute and responses to a similar length. That way we can accommodate as many members as possible. It is also important to consider the consequences in terms of job losses and reduced services offered in the train stations in Haut- The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley. Saint-Maurice. Mr. Nathan Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, NDP): Mr. Speaker, here we are again in a question period allocated once the [English] government has invoked shutting down debate, closure. This is, I believe, the 50th time. The government likes these round numbers. VISITOR VISAS Here is the interesting moment when it is using the guillotine on Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, debate on this particular bill. The government does not seem to tomorrow I am going to the funeral of a very good family friend of comprehend the idea of what yes means. many years. This petition highlights what I believe is a concern all members of Parliament have. It calls upon the House of Commons to The government comes to the opposition and asks how many recognize the importance of families and to take the action needed to days we would like to debate this bill. We say about this, and it says ensure that those who want to visit family in Canada be given extra okay, and the very next thing it does is shut down debate. It is consideration when applying for visitor visas. The petition makes absolutely confusing and confounding to anybody who studies reference to allowances for things such as funerals. parliaments and how they are meant to work. There are some terms of negotiation and going back and forth on how many speakers are The funeral I am going to tomorrow is a good example. The needed. brother of the deceased has been denied the opportunity to come to This is a 300-page bill with many hundreds of amendments. Canada. The petition deals with allowing family members to come to However, we agreed with the government. We said that about this Canada to participate in funerals as well as weddings and other types many days would be fine, but it cannot take yes for an answer. It says of celebrations. that it is going to shut down debate anyway, and here it is, and this is when it is going to be. *** Never mind when we get into the details of the bill, as my Ï (1010) colleague from Gatineau attempted to do previously, to take out a section. This is supposed to be a bill on the budget. What is in there? QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER It includes how we nominate Supreme Court justices. That makes perfect sense to the economy. That is a crucial economic factor, how Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of a judge gets nominated from one bench or another to the Supreme the Government in the House of Commons, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I Court. ask that all questions be allowed to stand. This morning we suggested taking out that entirely separate The Speaker: Is that agreed? question so that MPs from all sides could ask questions about it and then have a free and fair vote on it. “No, no, no”, says the Some hon. members: Agreed. government. “It has to be an omnibus motion”. October 24, 2013 COMMONS DEBATES 323 Government Orders The confusion for the opposition and for Canadians is the Canadians are waiting for things that are in this bill. They are intransigence of the government, their taking what was the waiting for the different measures that will be brought forward in the exception, which is to shut down debate in an undemocratic way, second part of the economic action plan. We are here today. We want which Conservatives used to hate, by the way, when they were in to move as quickly as possible into debate and then get this to opposition, and making it the norm for everything.