CANADA House of Commons Debates VOLUME 141 Ï NUMBER 083 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 39th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Speaker: The Honourable Peter Milliken CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 5107 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, November 21, 2006 The House met at 10 a.m. That said, I think it is prudent that we take the time to properly consider other options, and proceed with the most appropriate and dignified one to honour all veterans of the first world war. Prayers The Speaker: Does the hon. member for Sackville—Eastern Shore have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion? ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS Some hon. members: Agreed. Ï (1005) The Speaker: The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? [English] GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO PETITIONS Some hon. members: Agreed. Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of (Motion agreed to) the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for *** Democratic Reform, CPC): Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the [Translation] government's response to eight petitions. BILL C-285—CANADA MORTGAGE AND HOUSING CORPORATION ACT *** Mr. Michel Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute- [Translation] Côte-Nord, BQ): Mr. Speaker, following discussions with my INTERPARLIAMENTARY DELEGATIONS colleagues from the other parties, I think that if you were to seek it, Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, you would easily find unanimous consent to adopt the following pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the motion. By unanimous consent, it was ordered: House, in both official languages, the report of the parliamentary That the recorded division scheduled for Wednesday, November 22, 2006 on a delegation of the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire motion for second reading of Bill C-285 be redeferred to Tuesday, November 28, 2006, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders. de la Francophonie that participated in the meeting of the Bureau of the APF in Rabat, Morocco, on June 29, 2006, and in the 32nd annual session of the APF, also held in Rabat, Morocco, from The Speaker: Does the hon. member for Montmorency— June 30 to July 3, 2006. Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord have the unanimous consent of the House to move this motion? *** [English] Some hon. members: Agreed. WORLD WAR I VETERANS The Speaker: The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it Mr. Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Eastern Shore, NDP): Mr. the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion? Speaker, there have been consultations between the parties and I Some hon. members: Agreed. believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I (Motion agreed to) move: [English] That, in the opinion of this House, the Government of Canada should honour all who served Canada in the first world war by sponsoring a state funeral on the passing of Hon. Jay Hill: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There the last Canadian veteran of this Great War. appears to have been a bit of miscommunication. I wonder if you Mr. Tom Lukiwski: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We would find it possible to revert to introduction of government bills. received this request from my hon. colleague yesterday and while we The Speaker: Is there unanimous consent to revert to introduction would have preferred to have a discussion on the various of government bills? approaches, we will support this motion since it was one of the options that the government had been considering in any event. Some hon. members: Agreed. 5108 COMMONS DEBATES November 21, 2006 Government Orders Some hon. members: No. The Speaker: When the debate on this matter was last before the The Speaker: There is no consent. I called introduction of House, the hon. member for Malpeque was in the midst of his government bills but nobody rose. I was not aware that there was a remarks. He has five minutes remaining in the time allocated for his bill to be introduced. comments. I therefore call on the hon. member for Malpeque. Presenting petitions. Hon. Wayne Easter (Malpeque, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am *** pleased to have the opportunity to complete my remarks on Bill C-2, the so-called accountability act. I have a couple of quotes that I was PETITIONS not quite finished with that I will get to in a moment. LITERACY Hon. Sue Barnes (London West, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens in London and Middlesex drawing the It is ironic that the government by devious means, and that is the attention of the House that literacy is a prerequisite for social and Prime Minister working with the leader of the separatist party, is economic development, that approximately 38% of Canadians have attempting to disadvantage the Canadian Wheat Board, a prairie difficulty reading and writing, that illiteracy costs Canadian society grain farmer marketing institution. In disadvantaging farmers in approximately $10 billion annually, and that the successful western Canada, the Prime Minister is really allowing the elimination of adult illiteracy is a key component in ensuring opportunity for the international grain trade, our competitors in the Canadian competitiveness in the global market as well as ensuring international market, to gain marketing advantage over Canadian the quality of life for thousands of Canadians. farmers. It is ironic that we are talking about an accountability act and the Prime Minister is using these tactics. Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to reinstate funding to literacy programs cut by the Conservative government and to undertake a national literacy strategy to ensure that all Canadians It is devious because the move has nothing to do with have the opportunity to achieve this vital skill. There are a couple of accountability at all but, instead, shows that the Prime Minister will pages of signatures from my constituents who are very much in go to almost any length to get his way in his ideological drive to favour of funding the literacy programs in full. undermine the Canadian Wheat Board. This is not just a Canadian Wheat Board issue. This is about the Prime Minister's tactics, his MARRIAGE willingness to cut a deal with the leader of the separatist party, and Mr. Mike Allen (Tobique—Mactaquac, CPC): Mr. Speaker, his ideological obsession with trying to destroy the Canadian Wheat pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the pleasure to present three Board, a board now controlled by farmers themselves. petitions today signed by a number of people from the riding of Tobique—Mactaquac, specifically in the Carleton Country area. The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to reopen the issue of Let us look for a moment at this access to information and how it will disadvantage the Canadian Wheat Board. I turn to a letter that marriage in this Parliament and to repeal or to amend the Marriage the chair of the Canadian Wheat Board tabled with the Senate for Civil Purposes Act in order to promote and to defend marriage as Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. It stated: the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Therefore, the true beneficiaries of adding the CWB to ATIA will primarily be *** non-farmers such as competitors and foreign antagonists that would be able to make QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER information requests. Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Subjecting the CWB to ATIA will put it at a disadvantage to its commercial competitors. These competitors could gain access to types of information about the Democratic Reform, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be CWB that the CWB could not obtain from them. It would also open up sensitive allowed to stand. information to access by its international antagonists (primarily, the United States). By way of example, since the implementation of the Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement The Speaker: Is that agreed? the CWB has been subject to no fewer than 14 U.S.-led trade challenges or investigations. All of these actions have been groundless as the CWB has not once Some hon. members: Agreed. been found to be acting outside of its international trade obligations. Yet, through the CWB, western Canadian farmers have been forced to spend in excess of $15 million to defend itself against these actions. The use of access to information requests by foreign parties is certain to become another vehicle to harass western Canadian GOVERNMENT ORDERS farmers. [English] FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT That is in fact what will happen. The Wheat Board will end up having to pay the costs for nuisance requests from people who are The House resumed from November 20 consideration of the opposed to the board and farmers will have to bear those costs in motion, and of the amendment and of the amendment to the western Canada. The Canadian Wheat Board again is being amendment. disadvantaged. November 21, 2006 COMMONS DEBATES 5109 Government Orders The parliamentary secretary is one of the key people trying to get with the work of the Wheat Board, but I would like to ask the the Canadian Wheat Board under access to information and he member a question. knows full well that the government never put forward the amendment. Why? It is because its legal advice said, as the If we manage to get the Wheat Board exempted from access to Canadian Wheat Board Act states, that the Canadian Wheat Board is information, will the member's party support this accountability act not a crown corporation or a government entity.