House of Commons Debates VOLUME 147 Ï NUMBER 119 Ï 2nd SESSION Ï 41st PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Speaker: The Honourable Andrew Scheer CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 8009 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, September 30, 2014 The House met at 10 a.m. AGRICULTURE Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present. They are all with regard to the right Prayers to save seeds. Petitioners are calling upon Parliament to refrain from making any changes to the Seeds Act or to the Plant Breeders' Rights Act through Bill C-18, an act to amend certain acts relating to Ï (1005) agriculture and agri-food, that would restrict farmers' rights or add to [English] farmers' costs. BOARD OF INTERNAL ECONOMY Further, they call upon Parliament to enshrine in legislation the The Speaker: I have the honour to inform the House that Mrs. inalienable right of farmers and other Canadians to save, reuse, Ambler, member for the electoral district of Mississauga South, has select, exchange, and sell seeds. been appointed member of the Board of Internal Economy in place ASBESTOS of Mr. Merrifield, member for the electoral district of Yellowhead, for the purposes and under the provisions of section 50 of the Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I am Parliament of Canada Act. pleased to present a petition signed by tens of thousands of Canadians who call upon Parliament and the House of Commons here assembled to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. In fact, they point out that more ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS Canadians now die from asbestos than from all other occupational or [English] industrial causes combined, yet Canada still allows asbestos to be used in construction materials, textile products, and even children's COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE toys. PROCEDURE AND HOUSE AFFAIRS Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in Mr. Joe Preston (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC): Mr. all of its forms and institute a just transition program for asbestos Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the workers; to end all government subsidies of asbestos, both in Canada honour to present, in both official languages, the 18th report of the and abroad; and to stop blocking international health and safety Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the membership of committees of the House. Rotterdam convention. If the House gives its consent, I should like to move concurrence IMPAIRED DRIVING in the report. Mr. Harold Albrecht (Kitchener—Conestoga, CPC): Mr. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Speaker, I have the honour to present four petitions from citizens of Canada from Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario. These Some hon. members: Agreed. citizens want to see tougher laws and implementation of new Some hon. members: No. mandatory minimum sentencing for those persons convicted of impaired driving causing death. They also want the Criminal Code *** of Canada to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter. PETITIONS [Translation] SEX SELECTION Hon. Ron Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country, CPC): Mr. CBC/RADIO-CANADA Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House. This morning Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition on behalf of numerous constituents. today it is my honour to rise to present two petitions. They are requesting that the House condemn discrimination against females occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination. The first is about CBC/Radio-Canada. 8010 COMMONS DEBATES September 30, 2014 Government Orders [English] we live here is dramatically affected by the amount of trade that we have throughout the world. This is our national broadcaster. The petitioners presented petitions in English, so I will continue in English. The petitioners are from all over Canada. They are from Toronto and Markham, but primarily from British Columbia, from Liberal governments in the past have demonstrated very clearly Vancouver, Nelson, and my constituency of Saanich—Gulf Islands. that we understand the trade file. In fact, going back to the Jean They are calling for stable, predictable funding for the CBC. Chrétien and Paul Martin era, we find that we consistently had trade surpluses. This is something that is highly achievable if the WASTE REDUCTION government understands the complexities of the whole file of trade. Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, This is something that the current government has been somewhat the second petition is entirely from residents of Saanich—Gulf challenged on. Yes, the Conservatives talk about free trade Islands, from North Saanich, Salt Spring Island and Victoria. They agreements and they have entered into some free trade agreements, are all calling for the Government of Canada to work with the but where they have been found wanting is in the area of overall provinces to put in place a national program to reduce waste through trade. When it comes to overall trade, we will find that since this extended product responsibility and extended producer responsi- Prime Minister has become Prime Minister, we have been going bility. down from the original high of billions of dollars in trade surplus to where we have seen billions of dollars in trade deficit. CANADA POST Mr. Matthew Kellway (Beaches—East York, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present petitions in the House today in respect to the reduction of Canada Post services. The signatories to That is important because at the end of the day a healthy trade these petitions note that the elimination of door-to-door mail delivery surplus means more jobs for Canadians. It means that our middle will have a particularly adverse impact on seniors and the disabled. class is going to be doing that much better economically. On the one They call upon the Government of Canada to reject Canada Post's hand, we recognize the value of entering into free trade agreements, plan to end door-to-door mail delivery and increase prices, and to but on the other hand we want to emphasize to the Conservatives instead explore other options for modernizing the postal service. that they are not doing their jobs when it comes to overall trade for our country. This is where the government really needs to improve. *** Regarding our manufacturing industry, one only needs to look at the QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER devastation in Ontario in terms of our manufacturing jobs. Tens of Ms. Lois Brown (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of thousands of jobs have been lost because the current government has International Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I ask that all been asleep at the switch and not addressing the needs of our questions be allowed to stand. manufacturing industry, not only in the province of Ontario but in other areas also. The Deputy Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed. Today, we talk about the free trade agreement with Korea. The Conservatives like to pat themselves on the back, saying how GOVERNMENT ORDERS wonderful they are for getting this free trade agreement with Korea. The reality is that Korea has been attempting to get free trade [English] agreements with countries around the world since about 2003. CANADA-KOREA ECONOMIC GROWTH AND Shortly after the Koreans initiated that bold initiative of wanting PROSPERITY ACT more free trade agreements, Paul Martin expressed an interest in Canada being a part of that free trade initiative by Korea. In 2004, The House resumed from September 25 consideration of the the negotiations actually began. Looking at what Korea has been motion that Bill C-41, An Act to implement the Free Trade able to accomplish, we see it has agreements in place with several Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Korea, be read the nations, including the European Union, the United States and smaller second time and referred to a committee. nations like Chile, and I believe, Peru, a number of nations. Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise today to speak to a bill dealing with free trade. The Liberal Party, traditionally through decades, has been fairly clear in terms of recognizing the value of world trade. The Canada, on the other hand has been asleep again at the switch and Liberal Party does not fear having trade agreements. In fact, we have there has been a significant cost. I have referred to it in the past and I been advocating and are very supportive of the movement toward will reinforce it this morning. The pork industry in the province of additional agreements. We see the value in the sense that Canada is Manitoba could have had more pork sales to Korea had the very much a trading nation. We are very dependent on trade. Trade government acted in a more prompt fashion, or had it followed the equals jobs here in Canada. It is important to our lifestyle. The way lead of Paul Martin in 2003-04. September 30, 2014 COMMONS DEBATES 8011 Government Orders Ï (1010) The point is that we in the Liberal Party have recognized the value of free trade. We hear lots of words from the Conservatives, but they At the end of the day, that is just one industry, albeit an industry I suffer in terms of tangible action. Yes, agreements have been signed, am very proud of in Manitoba because of the jobs that have been but let us recognize the fact that they have not been all that timely in generated, whether in Brandon, Winnipeg, or rural communities, terms of their announcements, and so forth.