House Publications

39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 111

CONTENTS

Thursday, June 12, 2008

  Expand All |  Collapse All

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 Private Members' Business

 Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

The Speaker

(Division 149)  (10:35)

The Speaker

 Income Tax Act

The Speaker

(Division 150)  (10:40)

The Speaker

(Division 151)  (10:50)

The Speaker

(Division 152)  (11:00)

Mr. Robert Bouchard (Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, BQ)

The Speaker

(Division 153)  (11:05)

The Speaker

Mr. Robert Bouchard

The Speaker

(Division 154)  (11:15)

The Speaker

(Bill read the third time and passed)

 ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

 Committees of the House

Environment and Sustainable Development

The Speaker

Hon. Jay Hill

The Speaker

(Division 155)  (11:20)

The Speaker

 Food and Drugs Act

Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC)

 Government Response to Petitions

Mr. Mark Warawa (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment, CPC)

 Legislative Instruments Re-enactment Act

Mr. Rob Moore (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, CPC)

 Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission

Mr. Rob Moore (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, CPC)

 Copyright Act

Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Industry, CPC)

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

 Interparliamentary Delegations (11:25)

Mr. Rob Merrifield (Yellowhead, CPC)

Mrs. Vivian Barbot (Papineau, BQ)

 Committees of the House

Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Norman Doyle (St. John's East, CPC)

Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Fabian Manning (Avalon, CPC)

Agriculture and Agri-Food

Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake, CPC)

Status of Women

Mrs. Irene Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, NDP)

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Mr. Mervin Tweed (Brandon—Souris, CPC)

 Criminal Code

Ms. Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ)

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

 Committees of the House

Foreign Affairs and International Development

Mr. Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre, NDP)  (11:35)

Hon. Larry Bagnell (Yukon, Lib.)

Mr. Paul Dewar

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP) (11:40)

Hon. Larry Bagnell (Yukon, Lib.) (11:45)

Ms. Denise Savoie (11:50)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer) (11:55)

(Division 156)  (12:40)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (12:45)

Hon. Keith Martin

Mr. Deepak Obhrai

Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.) (12:50) (12:55) (13:00) (13:05)

Hon. John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood, Lib.) (13:10)

Hon. Keith Martin

Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.)

Hon. Keith Martin (13:15)

Hon. John McKay

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau) (13:20)

Hon. Keith Martin

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Ms. Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ) (13:25) (13:30) (13:35)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau) (13:40)

Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.)

Ms. Francine Lalonde

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC) (13:45) (13:50) (13:55)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau) (14:00)

 Statements by Members

 Agricultural Fairs

Mr. Barry Devolin (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, CPC)

 Child Labour

Hon. Raymond Simard (Saint Boniface, Lib.)

 Berthierville Music Festival

Mr. Guy André (Berthier—Maskinongé, BQ)

 Liberal Party of Canada

Mr. Larry Miller (Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, CPC)

 Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre, NDP)

 Brain Injury Awareness Month (14:05)

Hon. Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, Lib.)

 Carbon Tax

Mr. Denis Lebel (Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, CPC)

 Gilles Carle

Mr. Luc Malo (Verchères—Les Patriotes, BQ)

 Carbon Tax Proposal

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC)

 Human Rights (14:10)

Mr. Anthony Rota (Nipissing—Timiskaming, Lib.)

 Aboriginal Affairs

Mr. Rob Clarke (Desnethé--Missinippi--Churchill River, CPC)

 Iraq

Mr. Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior, NDP)

 Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

Mr. David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Lib.)

 Raymond Laliberté

Mr. Pierre Paquette (Joliette, BQ)

 Aboriginal Affairs

Mr. Derek Lee (Scarborough—Rouge River, Lib.)

 Aboriginal Affairs

Mr. Pierre Poilievre (Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, CPC)

 ORAL QUESTIONS

 Aboriginal Affairs

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.)

Hon. Ralph Goodale

Hon. Stéphane Dion

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Hon. Stéphane Dion (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.) (14:20)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Mr. Todd Russell (Labrador, Lib.)

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC)

Mr. Todd Russell (Labrador, Lib.)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

 Public Safety

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ) (14:25)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Mr. Serge Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, BQ)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Serge Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, BQ)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

 Indian Affairs

Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP)

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC)

 National Security (14:30)

Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver South, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver South, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

  Aboriginal Affairs

Mr. Marc Lemay (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC) (14:35)

Mr. Marc Lemay (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC)

 Regional Economic Development

Mr. Jean-Yves Roy (Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Hon. Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, CPC)

Mr. Jean-Yves Roy (Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Hon. Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, CPC)

 National Security

Mr. Mark Holland (Ajax—Pickering, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Mark Holland (Ajax—Pickering, Lib.)

The Speaker

Mr. Mark Holland

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Denis Coderre (Bourassa, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Denis Coderre (Bourassa, Lib.)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

 Copyright

Mr. Bruce Stanton (Simcoe North, CPC)

Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Industry, CPC)

 Omar Khadr (14:45)

Mr. Wayne Marston (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, NDP)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

Mr. Wayne Marston (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, NDP)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

Hon. Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Lib.)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

Hon. Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Lib.)

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC)

 Regional Economic Development

Mr. Marcel Proulx (Hull—Aylmer, Lib.)

Hon. Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, CPC)

Mr. Marcel Proulx (Hull—Aylmer, Lib.)

Hon. Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, CPC)

 Citizenship and Immigration

Ms. Christiane Gagnon (Québec, BQ)

Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CPC)

 The Environment

Ms. Christiane Gagnon (Québec, BQ)

Mr. Laurie Hawn (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, CPC)

 The Economy

Hon. John McCallum (Markham—Unionville, Lib.)

Mr. Ted Menzies (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC) (14:55)

 Child Care

Mr. Mike Lake (Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, CPC)

Hon. Monte Solberg (Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, CPC)

 Price of Consumer Goods

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP)

Mr. Ted Menzies (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC)

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP)

Mr. Ted Menzies (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC)

 Fisheries (15:00)

Ms. Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Nunavut, Lib.)

Hon. Loyola Hearn (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, CPC)

 International Trade

Mr. Daniel Petit (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, CPC)

Hon. Lawrence Cannon (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC)

The Speaker

 Points of Order

Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Mr. Wajid Khan (Mississauga—Streetsville, CPC)

The Speaker (15:05)

 Privilege

Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Mr. Wayne Marston (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, NDP)

Mr. Michel Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, BQ) (15:10)

Hon. Bob Rae (Toronto Centre, Lib.)

Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, CPC)

Hon. Bob Rae (15:15)

Mr. Scott Reid

The Speaker

Mr. Tom Lukiwski

The Speaker

 Routine Proceedings

 Questions on the Order Paper

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski

The Speaker

 Ways and Means

Notice of Motion

Hon. Gerry Ritz (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, CPC)

 Government Orders

 Canada Elections Act

Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)  (15:25) (15:30)

Ms. Catherine Bell (Vancouver Island North, NDP)

Hon. Peter Van Loan (15:35)

Hon. Judy Sgro (York West, Lib.) (15:40) (15:45) (15:50)

Mr. Lloyd St. Amand (Brant, Lib.)

Hon. Judy Sgro

Mr. Bernard Bigras (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, BQ) (15:55) (16:00) (16:05) (16:10)

Mr. Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton—Canso, Lib.)

Mr. Bernard Bigras (16:15)

Mr. John Maloney (Welland, Lib.)

Mr. Bernard Bigras

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Bernard Bigras (16:20)

Mr. Alan Tonks (York South—Weston, Lib.) (16:25) (16:30)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Alan Tonks (16:35)

Mr. Lloyd St. Amand (Brant, Lib.)

Mr. Alan Tonks

Mr. John Maloney (Welland, Lib.) (16:40)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer)

Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.) (16:45) (16:50)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer) (16:55)

Hon. Keith Martin

Mr. Tom Lukiwski

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer)

Hon. Keith Martin (17:00)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Hon. Keith Martin (17:05)

Mr. Derek Lee (Scarborough—Rouge River, Lib.)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Hon. Keith Martin

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Mr. Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton—Canso, Lib.)

Hon. Keith Martin (17:10)

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP) (17:15) (17:20) (17:25)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC) (17:30)

Ms. Jean Crowder

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

 PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

 National Defence Act

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC) (17:35)

Mr. Michael Savage (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Lib.) (17:40)

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP) (17:45)

Ms. France Bonsant (Compton—Stanstead, BQ) (17:50)

Mr. Luc Harvey (Louis-Hébert, CPC) (17:55) (18:00)

Mrs. Maria Mourani (Ahuntsic, BQ) (18:05)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau) (18:10)

 ADJOURNMENT PROCEEDINGS

Government Policies

Mr. Michael Savage (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Lib.)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau) (18:15)

Mr. Michael Savage

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Mr. Michael Savage

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC)

Mr. Michael Savage

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (18:20)

Aboriginal Affairs

Mr. Todd Russell (Labrador, Lib.)

Mr. Rod Bruinooge (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, CPC) (18:25)

Mr. Todd Russell

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

Mr. Rod Bruinooge

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau)

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CANADA

OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Speaker: The Honourable Peter Milliken

Private Members' Business

[Private Members' Business]

[English]

Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

    The House resumed from June 4 consideration of the motion.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    Order. It being 10:05 a.m., pursuant to order made Tuesday, June 10, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on Motion No. 465 under private members' business in the name of the hon. member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte.

    Call in the members.

    And the bells having rung:

[Translation]

    (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 149)

YEAS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Alghabra
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Baird
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Benoit
Bezan
Bigras
Black
Blais
Blaney
Bonsant
Bouchard
Boucher
Bourgeois
Breitkreuz
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Brunelle
Byrne
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Cardin
Carrier
Casson
Charlton
Chong
Christopherson
Clarke
Clement
Coderre
Comuzzi
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cummins
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davidson
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Del Mastro
Demers
Deschamps
Devolin
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Doyle
Dryden
Duceppe
Dykstra
Easter
Epp
Eyking
Faille
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Galipeau
Gallant
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goldring
Goodale
Goodyear
Gourde
Gravel
Grewal
Guarnieri
Guergis
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Holland
Jaffer
Jean
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Keeper
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Laforest
Laframboise
Lake
Lalonde
Lauzon
Lavallée
Lebel
Lee
Lemay
Lemieux
Lessard
Lévesque
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
Lussier
MacAulay
MacKenzie
Malo
Maloney
Manning
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
Mayes
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Minna
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Paradis
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Petit
Picard
Plamondon
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Priddy
Proulx
Rae
Rajotte
Redman
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Rodriguez
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Scheer
Schellenberger
Sgro
Shipley
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stanton
Stoffer
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Tonks
Trost
Turner
Tweed
Valley
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Vincent
Volpe
Wallace
Warawa
Wasylycia-Leis
Watson
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Yelich
Zed

Total: -- 249

NAYS

Nil

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare the motion carried.

[English]

Income Tax Act

     The House resumed from June 6 consideration of Bill C-207, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (tax credit for new graduates working in designated regions), as reported (with amendment) from the committee, and of the motions in Group No. 1.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, June 10, the House will proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded divisions on the motions at report stage of Bill C-207 under private members' business.

[Translation]

    The question is on Motion No. 1.

    (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 150)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lee
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Lussier
MacAulay
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Picard
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Rae
Redman
Rodriguez
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 137

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Breitkreuz
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Galipeau
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Turner
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 111

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare Motion No. 1 carried.

    The next question is on the amendment to Motion No. 2.

    (The House divided on the amendment to the amendment, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 151)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lee
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Lussier
MacAulay
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Picard
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Redman
Rodriguez
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 136

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Breitkreuz
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Galipeau
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 110

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare the amendment to Motion No. 2 carried.

[English]

    The next question is on Motion No. 2, as amended.

[Translation]

    (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 152)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lee
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Lussier
MacAulay
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Picard
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Redman
Rodriguez
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 136

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Galipeau
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 107

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Robert Bouchard (Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, BQ)  

     moved that Bill C-207, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (tax credit for new graduates working in designated regions) be concurred in.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare Motion No. 2, as amended, carried.

    (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 153)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lee
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Lussier
MacAulay
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Picard
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Redman
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 135

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Galipeau
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 107

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

     I declare the motion carried.

    When shall the bill be read a third time? With leave of the House, now?

    Some hon. members: Agreed.

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Robert Bouchard  

     moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

    Some hon. members: Agreed.

    Some hon. members: No.

    The Speaker: All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

    Some hon. members: Yea.

    The Speaker: All those opposed will please say nay.

    Some hon. members: Nay.

    The Speaker: In my opinion, the yeas have it.

    And five or more members having risen:

     (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 154)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lee
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Lussier
MacAulay
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Picard
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Redman
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 135

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Galipeau
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 108

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare the motion carried.

     (Bill read the third time and passed)

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

[Routine Proceedings]

[English]

Committees of the House

Environment and Sustainable Development

    The House resumed from June 10 consideration of the motion.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    Pursuant to order made Tuesday, June 10, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion to concur in the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development concerning the extension of time to consider Bill C-469.

    The hon. chief government whip is rising on a point of order.

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Jay Hill:  

    Mr. Speaker, I think if you were to seek it you would find unanimous consent to apply the results from the previous motion to this motion, with Conservative members present this morning voting in favour.

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    Is there unanimous consent to proceed in this way?

    Some hon. members: Agreed.

    Some hon. members: No.

    The Speaker: There is no consent.

    The question is on the motion.

[Translation]

    (The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

(Division No. 155)

YEAS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Alghabra
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
André
Angus
Arthur
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Baird
Barbot
Barnes
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Benoit
Bezan
Bigras
Black
Blais
Blaney
Bonsant
Bouchard
Boucher
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Brunelle
Byrne
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Cardin
Carrier
Casson
Charlton
Chong
Christopherson
Clarke
Clement
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cummins
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davidson
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Del Mastro
Demers
Deschamps
Devolin
Dewar
Dhalla
Doyle
Dryden
Duceppe
Dykstra
Easter
Epp
Eyking
Faille
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Galipeau
Gallant
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goldring
Goodale
Goodyear
Gourde
Gravel
Grewal
Guarnieri
Guergis
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Holland
Jaffer
Jean
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Keeper
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Laforest
Laframboise
Lake
Lalonde
Lauzon
Lavallée
Lebel
Lee
Lemay
Lemieux
Lessard
Lévesque
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
Lussier
MacAulay
MacKenzie
Malo
Maloney
Manning
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
Mayes
McCallum
McGuinty
McGuire
McTeague
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Minna
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Paradis
Patry
Pearson
Perron
Petit
Picard
Plamondon
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Priddy
Proulx
Rajotte
Redman
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Scheer
Schellenberger
Sgro
Shipley
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
St-Cyr
St. Amand
St. Denis
Stanton
Stoffer
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thibault (West Nova)
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Tonks
Trost
Turner
Tweed
Valley
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Vincent
Wallace
Warawa
Wasylycia-Leis
Watson
Wrzesnewskyj
Yelich
Zed

Total: -- 240

NAYS

Nil

PAIRED

Nil

    [Table of Contents]

The Speaker:  

    I declare the motion carried.

[English]

Food and Drugs Act

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, at this time, I wish to table, in both official languages, copies of a letter I have sent to the chair of the Standing Committee on Health setting out proposals for amendments to Bill C-51, which the government will invite the committee to consider.

Government Response to Petitions

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Mark Warawa (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to eight petitions.

Legislative Instruments Re-enactment Act

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Rob Moore (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Justice, I am pleased to table two reports today. The first is the review report of the Minister of Justice on the implementation and operation of section 4 of the Legislative Instruments Re-enactment Act.

Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Rob Moore (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, the second report I am pleased to table today is the report of the 2007 Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission.

Copyright Act

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Jim Prentice (Minister of Industry, CPC)  

     moved for leave to introduce Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act.

     (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Interparliamentary Delegations

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Rob Merrifield (Yellowhead, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the reports of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group respecting its participation in the congressional visit by members at the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group in Washington, D.C., from April 22 to 25, 2008, and also the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance conference, the Canadian/U.S. Border: A Unified Focus, in Ottawa, Ontario, April 27 to 29, 2008.

[Translation]

    [Table of Contents]

Mrs. Vivian Barbot (Papineau, BQ):  

    Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, respecting its participation in the meeting of the political committee of the APF held in Strasbourg, France, on April 10 and 11, 2008.

[English]

Committees of the House

Citizenship and Immigration

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Norman Doyle (St. John's East, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the tenth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, entitled “Regulating Immigration Consultants”.

Fisheries and Oceans

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Fabian Manning (Avalon, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, on the condition of the eelgrass beds in James Bay.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food entitled “'Product of Canada' claims: Truth and transparency are necessary”. This is a report that we spent a couple of months working on.

[Translation]

    I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, entitled “An Analysis and Comparison of Selected Canada-United States Farm Input Costs”.

[English]

Status of Women

    [Table of Contents]

Mrs. Irene Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 11th and 12th reports of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. The 11th report entitled “Towards Gender-Responsive Budgeting: Rising to the Challenge of Achieving General Equality” was adopted unanimously by all committee members.

    I would like to thank my committee colleagues: Kathleen Lahey; Armine Yalnizyan; Nancy Peckford; the committee analysts, Clara Morgan, Karine Richer, Shahrzad Mobasher Fard; and the committee clerk, Danielle Belisle, for their hard and dedicated work.

[Translation]

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Mervin Tweed (Brandon—Souris, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, entitled “Consideration of Proposed Amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act”.

[English]

    I am pleased to report that the committee has agreed to the government request to undertake consultations in order to amend or develop a new navigable waters protection act. The committee has made eight recommendations to that effect and looks forward to holding broader consultations once the government introduces a proposed bill.

[Translation]

Criminal Code

    [Table of Contents]

Ms. Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ)  

     moved for leave to introduce Bill C-562, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity).

    She said: Mr. Speaker, I am moved this morning when I think about all of the people who supported the first version of this bill and were so eager to see it implemented.

    However, my thoughts go especially to all those who are suffering, who meet the conditions in this bill and who could choose to die with dignity. As long as the Criminal Code is not amended—and I am proposing that it should be—they will not have this choice.

    I hope that this Parliament will make it possible for these people to exercise this ultimate freedom.

    (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[English]

Committees of the House

Foreign Affairs and International Development

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre, NDP)  

     moved that the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development presented on Thursday, June 5, 2008, be concurred in.

    He said: Mr. Speaker, at the outset I would like to note that I will be sharing my time with the member for Victoria.

    The need to adopt effective standards of corporate social responsibility, particularly insofar as greater sensitivity to and engagement with the interests and concerns of affected indigenous communities, has been a point of focus for me and my NDP colleagues. My colleague from Halifax has worked tirelessly on the whole issue of corporate social responsibility.

    As the Canadian government expands its foreign policy and trade ties in Central and South America, Canadian corporate behaviour should be examined much more closely.

    Already, Canadian extractive companies are responsible for billions of dollars of investments in projects throughout Central and South America.

     I had some experience in the case of Central America. I am familiar with this subject. In the 1980s I was a project organizer for a development project there, and on the ground, investments can have a significant impact for good or ill upon the communities in which they are made.

    Canadian mining companies account for $50 billion of cumulative direct investment around the world. That is a lot of economic activity and that means the lives of many people in other countries are tied to these activities.

    Canadians want to know that Canadian companies are improving the lives of people touched by their work, not ruining their livelihood and trampling on their human rights.

    Resource riches can be used to prop up corrupt and repressive regimes, like in Zimbabwe and Sudan. Canadian investments in places like Burma have been contributing to the junta, the regime there, and its oppression of the Burmese people. These are Canadian company that are having a direct effect, in a negative way, on people around the world.

    Worse still, many Canadian companies have not held themselves to the same human rights, labour and environmental standards that they are required to abide by right here in Canada. We think that should change. The report on corporate social responsibility that the government has would require them to do the same.

    It is interesting to note that this report was a joint project between business and civil society. It was a consensus report. The government has had it for over 400 days.

     Last year, after the consensus report was delivered to the government, the government said, “We will respond in due course in a short period of time”. It has been more than 400 days since the government has had this report, which was an amazing feat. My predecessor, Ed Broadbent, was the one who pushed for this to happen, working with the member for Halifax.

    Many said it could not be done, that business and civil society, those who are pushing for more human rights and standards, both labour and environment standards, could not agree. They did agree. Business and civil society came up with a comprehensive report.

    What does that report say? In a nutshell it says the following: That Canadian companies would follow the same standards as they follow here in Canada; that there would be reporting of their activities abroad; that there would be compliance with the framework agreement; and that there would be an ombudsperson to oversee this activity.

    It is 2008. The standards that citizens enjoy here in Canada should be exported around the world.

    Stephen Lewis has said many times that the whole notion of globalization has benefited disproportionately the north developed countries over the south, and that it is high time we globalize human rights, environmental standards, and the appreciation that the wealth that is created in the south should be something that is honoured by the wages we pay.

(1135)

    The government has an opportunity to move forward international standards on human rights and environmental rights, and Canada's place in the world by adopting the corporate social responsibility framework that was agreed to by business and by civil society.

    If the government has been pressured by companies like Barrick Gold or other special interests, and we know there was activity in Tanzania and Chile when the committee travelled abroad, it should listen to the voices of many, instead of listening to the voices of some. The government should listen to the voices of Canadians who unequivocally have called on it to adopt corporate social responsibility. It should join the majority of Canadians

    The government should adopt this corporate social responsibility report, do the right thing, show us proud, and make Canada stand tall on the world stage.

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Larry Bagnell (Yukon, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, the member and I have similar views on this issue and we have worked on it at some meetings together. I have convened some meetings with people who are interested in doing this.

    I would like to emphasize an excellent point my colleague made. This is one of those rare occasions when civil society and the business community agreed on a report. When there is a controversial report, it is not surprising for the government not to reply, but when all bodies agree, a rare situation, one would think it would be incumbent on the government to reply quickly. Obviously, the government does not have to agree with everything, but when there is such consensus, it could certainly move forward on a lot of fronts.

    One thing that I am particularly interested in, and the member could clarify this for me because I was not prepared for this debate, is with respect to an ombudsperson who would look into these cases internationally. Quite often we get letters concerning situations that need investigating. It is a lot harder for us to find out the facts in other countries but an ombudsperson could give us an unbiased, neutral view on a situation, and help us perform our functions as members of Parliament.

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Paul Dewar:  

    Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his work on this issue. Right now we have a regime of voluntary compliance for corporate social responsibility. It is kind of analogous to having voluntary human rights. We cannot have that. A company either has corporate social responsibility or it does. To have voluntary, it may as well not bother.

    Let me be clear about the position of the ombudsperson. He or she would oversee compliance, verify facts or complaints brought against Canadian companies by individuals, and determine if a complaint relates to the set out standards. The ombudsperson would really pull everything together and provide a framework and objectivity so people could understand. That is important for both companies and for those people concerned about standards being broken. I think it is an excellent way to go. The government should adopt this report and the framework.

    [Table of Contents]

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Ottawa Centre for moving this motion and for sharing his time with me.

    In my opinion, this motion is long overdue. It is very important for me to speak to this issue because I am keenly aware that in my riding of Victoria, the business community has been exercising leadership on this front by forming what has been called a values based business network through which they promote a triple bottom line approach in business. The business community develops business cases for sustainability. It works, learns and promotes ethical business practices. It collaborates on marketing and branding. It develops projects that strengthen the micro-economy.

    This is an issue that is particularly important to me. I have seen how it can work. It is beneficial not just for the bottom line, but in promoting social justice.

    My colleagues in the NDP caucus and I have been calling for such measures for a long time. My colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster has presented Bill C-492 which would begin to address the issue of basic human rights and environmental abuses by Canadian corporations abroad. This is a continuing problem that received extensive national attention in 2007 with the release of the advisory report from the National Roundtable on Corporate Social Responsibility. The report's recommendations to enhance Canada's social responsibility standards were inevitable, given the disturbing accounts by round table participants on human rights abuses, allegedly perpetrated by Canadian companies while operating overseas. A year and a half later, the federal government has yet to adopt these recommendations designed to prevent such injustices. It is the responsibility of the government to give leadership and to ensure that the standards set out in the report's recommendations are met.

    The basis of this report offers a pragmatic and comprehensive series of recommendations for the Government of Canada to implement toward developing the world's most progressive framework of corporate social responsibility. The report recommends standards based on existing international best practices, voluntary frameworks topped up with additional made in Canada standards that put as their focus assurances that Canadian extractive corporate practices enhance and protect human rights and the environment. This is not just good for social justice, but it is good for the bottom line as corporate social responsibility practices are increasingly being recognized.

    Recently, Niall FitzGerald, former CEO of Unilever said:

    Corporate social responsibility is a hard-edged business decision. Not because it is nice to do or because people are forcing us to do it...but because it is good for our business.

    Companies are beginning to realize that a business has a responsibility beyond its basic responsibility to its shareholders, a responsibility to a broader constituency that includes key stakeholders, customers, employees, and in the case of corporations functioning abroad, to the people, the foreign nationals in that country and the aboriginal people.

    There seems to be an irony between the government's inaction on this file and its historic apology to the aboriginal people of Canada yesterday. The government continues to allow for exploitation of aboriginal people in other countries through unsustainable and harmful corporate business practices, as has happened in Suriname or Tanzania where the labour practices of Barrick Gold, a Canadian company, caused conflict.

    We have begun to see the cracks form in bottom line capitalism with the demise of huge multinational corporations such as Enron and WorldCom and with the trials of Conrad Black or Ezra Levant. It has opened our eyes to the need for corporate social responsibility standards.

(1140)

    As the global food crisis increases, these discussions are broadening and suggest the need for a paradigm shift. Business must find new ways to contribute to society. The emphasis on free trade must give way to the promotion of fair trade principles. Doing business must no longer mean exploitation of people or devastation of the habitat.

    The implementation of measures to ensure corporate social responsibility is anything but a business as usual approach. Rather, a corporate social responsibility is effectively part of what I would call a new social contract between business and society. Government must stand up, take note and look at these recommendations that were made through a consensus report. The government must begin to consider these more seriously and implement them.

    Throughout Canada successful businesses have taken on the challenge toward corporate social responsibility. One such company in Canada at the forefront of this new way of doing business is Mountain Equipment Co-op. Former CEO Peter Robinson, one of the new thought leaders, has remarked, “Ethics is the new competitive environment”. Companies like MEC believe that corporate social responsibility is not only good for business, but it also offers a net competitive advantage for their businesses. In my own city, as I said, the values based network is comprised of hundreds of small businesses. They are exercising leadership by recognizing a triple bottom line approach to doing business.

    The Conservative government must follow the lead of businesses across the country. Canada's brand as a democratic country that respects human rights depends on it. We must make corporate social responsibility a part of Canada's policy.

    Today Canada can take action to ensure that we do not continue to exploit aboriginal people in other countries through its corporations. The recommendations that were proposed in the report stress that corporations operating abroad have a responsibility not only to follow the rules of the countries where they are operating, which in many cases especially in some developing countries are not applied, but they should follow the standards of corporate social responsibilities and the laws as they are in Canada.

    This is what this report attempts to do. I do not know if the business community in Canada is leading. This is what Canadians expect. Yesterday the Conservative government itself expressed regret and apologized to first nations people for the exploitation that has occurred over the years. Now it has the opportunity to prevent that kind of exploitation in other countries by taking action on this report.

(1145)

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Larry Bagnell (Yukon, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, Canada has the greatest mining industry in the world and is the biggest exporter. We are all over the world. By and large we do a fantastic job but every once in a while a rogue company comes up.

    In my international work I had to travel to one country to solve terrible local laws that were going to be passed against Canadian investment in general. It would have hurt all sorts of Canadian companies because of one operator. In another country there was a cruel dictatorship. Once again a Canadian company was implicated. There are only a handful of these type of operators sometimes causing problems for us and for our great mining industry which is a world leader. I am sure that is why the industry signed on to this report. It would help companies as much as anyone else to get this in place so that we did not have these rogue operations.

    My question is a little off topic. One of the complaints I hear is that the local government is not enforcing the rules. Primarily these companies should be caught by local legislation and enforcement but that is not occurring.

    Could the member comment on Canada's foreign policy and our place in the world? In my view we have reduced the investments that we are making in diplomacy. We have reduced the investments that were helping the democratic evolution of new countries, of fledgling democracies. If we were to put more effort into some of these countries, they would be able to protect themselves not only from rogue investments from Canada, but from all the companies in the world that may try to exploit aboriginal and other people in a country that has not yet developed sufficient laws and enforcement of its own. I think that is the type of role Canada has traditionally played.

(1150)

    [Table of Contents]

Ms. Denise Savoie:  

    Mr. Speaker, my colleague has raised extremely important issues. I will try to address some of them.

    The question that Canada could do more in terms of overseas development aid to help countries build capacity is excellent. It certainly is what we on this side of the House have been calling for. We have been asking the Government of Canada to meet its millennium development goals. We are still far from that. Although development aid has increased, it has not in comparison to GDP. We are falling behind our own promises in terms of our responsibilities to the world.

    It is absolutely understandable that countries in the developing world often do not have the capacity to implement some of the laws that are in place in those countries.

    We only need to look at some of the agreements that were made, for example, in Suriname. Agreements were made with Canadian companies in the extractive sector with very little, if any, benefit to the aboriginal people. We know that by definition the extractive industry is finite. It is important that Canada do everything possible to ensure there is some social justice. We know that these trade deals are often coercive and unequal and we need to have more equitable trade.

    The whole point I tried to make earlier is that there are many companies in Canada and business leaders in my own city that are giving leadership and showing the way. They are demonstrating to the government that they would like the government to take a stand on that, to make it easier.

    As my hon. colleague just said, it would facilitate the task for those companies that want to uphold these higher standards.

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to this important subject about corporate social responsibility and the round table conferences that were held.

    First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development for their hard work on this issue and for the motions that were brought forward. I can assure everyone that the motion was passed unanimously to be tabled in the House.

    I would like to highlight some important points. Canada is a major player in the international extractive sector. We are very much a world leader in mining. Between 1992 and 2006, the share of global mining exploration attributed to Canadian companies jumped from 25% to 43%. In fact, investment in the energy and metalurgic sector reached $121 billion in 2006, making this sector the second largest component of Canadian direct investment abroad. As I understand it, 24 mining companies are planning to invest $11 billion in Africa alone.

     Although Canada has been doing this voluntarily, it has been a leader because Canadian companies have all been doing very well in maintaining the high standards that are expected from Canadian companies. As a matter of fact, Transparency International recently released a report in which it evaluated 42 petroleum companies on the basis of the public disclosure of three types of information: all payments to government on a country-to-country basis, other financial information pertaining to operations and anti-corruption programs. I am proud to say that Canada's Nexon, Petro-Canada and Talisman Energy consistently scored very well in those categories, often ranking high or very high above country averages. Therefore, it is very clear that our companies are doing very well.

    However, this still means that we can move forward and see how we can improve. To that effect, the Government of Canada initiated the round table conference that was done. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the round table conference and for the recommendations that were made to the advisory group's recommendation. I would like to thank the hundreds of people who attended all of these sessions and who took time to present their views.

    We remain committed to consulting with key stakeholders and we will move forward in addressing these complex issues in a time of need. However, when we do that we want to get it right so we are taking the time to get this right and very soon.

    During the committee of the whole debate, the Minister of Foreign Affairs assured my colleague that he would be responding to the recommendations soon. However, we want to ensure we respond in a proper and rightful manner and that it is right for Canada.

    Some of my colleagues have stated what Canada needs to do. I want to quickly say what Canada has been doing. Canada has been a signatory to OECD's guidelines of multinational enterprises that promote the adoption of effective CSR principles. Also, Canada strongly supported the international extractive industries transparency initiative, EITI, aimed at building the capacity of countries to increase the transfer of companies' payments and corresponding government revenues from the extractive sector.

    Our partnership with mining associations and the aboriginal organizations is to develop a mining capability to help aboriginal people evaluate and participate in the opportunities offered by the mining sector. This has been adopted in many countries including the Philippines, Australia, Norway and Peru. Those are just a few examples of how we are moving in the right direction.

    As the Minister of Foreign Affairs has stated that he would be responding soon to this report, I move:

    That the debate be now adjourned.

(1155)

    [Table of Contents]

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer):  

     The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

    Some hon. members: Agreed.

    Some hon. members: No.

    The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

    Some hon. members: Yea.

    The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): All those opposed will please say nay.

    Some hon. members: Nay.

    The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): In my opinion the nays have it.

    And five or more members having risen:

    The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): Call in the members.

    (The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

(Division No. 156)

YEAS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Arthur
Baird
Benoit
Bezan
Blaney
Boucher
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Comuzzi
Cummins
Davidson
Del Mastro
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Epp
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Gallant
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guergis
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
Lemieux
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Paradis
Petit
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Solberg
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Tilson
Toews
Trost
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Yelich

Total: -- 108

NAYS

Members

Alghabra
André
Angus
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Barbot
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bellavance
Bennett
Bigras
Black
Bonsant
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Brunelle
Byrne
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Crête
Crowder
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
DeBellefeuille
Demers
Deschamps
Dewar
Dion
Dosanjh
Dryden
Duceppe
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Folco
Freeman
Fry
Gagnon
Gaudet
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Gravel
Guarnieri
Guimond
Hall Findlay
Holland
Jennings
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
Laforest
Laframboise
Lalonde
Lavallée
Lemay
Lessard
Lussier
Malo
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Mathyssen
McGuinty
McGuire
McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
McTeague
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Minna
Mourani
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paquette
Patry
Pearson
Plamondon
Priddy
Proulx
Rae
Redman
Rota
Roy
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
St-Cyr
St. Amand
Stoffer
Szabo
Telegdi
Thi Lac
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Turner
Valley
Vincent
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: -- 121

PAIRED

Members

Batters
Bernier
Blais
Carrie
Guay
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Picard
St-Hilaire
Thompson (Wild Rose)
Warkentin

Total: -- 10

    [Table of Contents]

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau):  

    I declare the motion defeated.

    When we were last debating there were 10 minutes for questions and comments. I now call for questions and comments. The hon. member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca has the floor.

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, based on his speech, does the parliamentary secretary believe that the Special Economic Measures Act needs to be rewritten?

    We know that SEMA is obsolete, that it does not address many of the needs of the 21st century in terms of ensuring that extractive industries working abroad are able to adhere to commonly agreed to norms and in terms of the social responsibility to which we know our private sector would like to adhere. The guidelines, to some degree are there but improvements need to be made and one important aspect on the punitive side is the utilization of a Special Economic Measures Act that works.

    I would like to know whether his government will rewrite SEMA.

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, as the member should know, as we all know, Canadian companies are held to a very high standard by the Government of Canada. We expect them to comply not only with the rules of local countries, but what the Canadian public expects of them as well. That is the key element. The other day I had dinner with the Chilean delegation and it asked me this question. I said that Canadians expected Canadian companies to hold to these very high standards.

    Yes, we have standards, but there are always challenges, and the member is right that things change. This is why the round table conference was held by the government with industry stakeholders, NGOs and everybody. Comprehensive round table conferences were held in four cities of Canada.

    The recommendations are now with the government. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, during committee of the whole, that he would respond to those recommendations after they had been studied, to ensure we got it right and that the laws of Canada were complied with. We should wait until that report comes forward before asking these kinds of questions.

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for the way he and the whole committee handled this report when it went to committee.

    We all believe there must be some type of balance in the approach we take. We want to encourage Canadian investment around the world. We recognize the importance this has for our country and for the prosperity of Canadians, but also there is responsibility. Before companies go into some of the countries, they sign on to the fact that they will be socially responsible.

    In committee the parliamentary secretary spoke at some length about the oil company Talisman and how it had, over the last number of years, improved its social responsibility, to the point where witnesses say it was really a leader in showing how one could make a difference.

    We see oil companies, mining companies and others that are now more than ever taking a look at how they can impact certain countries, encourage human rights and other things. I know the parliamentary secretary is from Calgary, which has a number of good, corporately social responsible companies, especially Talisman. Could he give a little information on that?

(1245)

    [Table of Contents]

Mr. Deepak Obhrai:  

    Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Crowfoot for his work as chair of the foreign affairs committee and specifically for his work on this file. This motion was in front of the committee, and has been debated for a while.

    As I mentioned in my speech earlier that Transparency International recently released a report in which it evaluated 42 petroleum companies on the basis of public disclosure. Guess which companies stood out? It was the Canadian companies. Canada's Nexon, Petro-Canada and Talisman Energy consistently ranked well in all categories, either high or very high, above average.

    Companies are taking corporate social responsibility very well. Talisman now has a complete department that looks into corporate social responsibility.

     Let me provide another concrete example to show how Canadian companies themselves do a very good job of meeting the standards.

     Last January I was in Ecuador for the inauguration of President Correa. A lot of Canadian mining companies are in Ecuador, close to 43 of them. One company had not met the corporate social responsibility. It was the other Canadian companies that told that company to clean up its act. It was the Canadians policing themselves, because it is in the larger interest of Canada to ensure that it has well run, corporately social responsible companies.

    As I mentioned, our investment is over $121 billion and it is vital for Canadian industries to police these things.

    [Table of Contents]

Hon. Keith Martin:  

    Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary was born in Africa. Why on earth is his government not doing more to address the catastrophe currently unfolding in Zimbabwe?

    Right now people are being murdered. Leaders in the MDC are being murdered. The regime on top of Mr. Mugabe and the four members of his joint operations committee have engaged in a new tactic. They are taking innocent civilians, pouring gasoline on them and burning them alive. That is happening right now. What do we hear from the government? Absolutely nothing.

    We said never again and the Prime Minister said never again, but never again is happening right now, in front of our noses and the government has done nothing.

    Will the parliamentary secretary take the issue to his Minister of Foreign Affairs, his government and his Prime Minister and demand that SADC and the African Union tell the leadership in Zimbabwe that they will be prosecuted under the ICC if it does not stop its violence right now, that they will help to organize a multilateral peacemaking force to enter into Zimbabwe, like the Brits did in Sierra Leone, to stop the conflict and end Zimbabwe's agony.

    Will he do this, as a person who was born in Africa? Will he ask his government to take a leadership role to end the agony taking place in Zimbabwe?

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Mr. Deepak Obhrai:  

    Mr. Speaker, the member is right. I was born in Tanzania and I know very well the history of Tanzania. I was there during the time when the winds of change were taking place on the continent and what is today called Zimbabwe was ruled by a white regime. The country I was staying in was in the forefront of fighting colonialism and white supremacy rule.

    I agree with the member that the situation now in Zimbabwe is terrible. It is not only terrible, but, as one of the pastors from South Africa stated last week, Zimbabwe has become a police state under Mr. Mugabe.

    This government is acting very strongly and has made strong representations to the African Union and to the South African government to have peer pressure put on Mr. Mugabe to ensure that there is a fair and transparent election.

    The good thing about all of this is Mr. Mugabe lost the election and now we have a run-off. Now it is critically important for the people of Zimbabwe to make their choice as to who will run.

    The member is absolutely right that Mr. Mugabe is using all the state apparatus to ensure he stays in power. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us to make that noise. However, I will never accept any kind of intervention as an invasion of Africa by any other forces out there. We must work with the African leaders to ensure they address the issues in Zimbabwe because it is in their interests as well.

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Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today to the issue of corporate social responsibility, particularly in the extractive industries.

    I want to start by correcting the parliamentary secretary's comments. He suggested that this began with the advent of the Conservative government, but that is not the case.

    Much of what we are talking about today is the landmark report from the parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, tabled in June 2005. It is a landmark report on mining in developing countries and corporate social responsibility.

    I would be remiss if I did not, on behalf of all members of the House, thank non-governmental organizations, like KAIROS, which have really done a yeoman's job of ensuring that this issue has been kept in the forefront for several years. For quite a while, it seemed like the issue had disappeared, but we all know how important it is. NGOs, like KAIROS, have really done a great job of keeping our feet to the fire, as elected officials, to ensure this issue is in front of Canadians.

    This is an extremely important issue. I want to talk for a moment on some basic concepts in terms of what corporate social responsibility is rather than pure rights.

    Although major objective of extractive companies is to earn profits, they also have a responsibility to advance social goals, given the transboundary nature of their operations and the concomitant reduction of the welfare role, particularly in developing in countries. Some may put forth the argument that these are private companies and they really do not have a role to play whatsoever, but they do have that role to play.

    We all know about the common concept of triple bottom line. This is not a theoretical issue; it is an issue that connects to the bottom line of the private sector, and I will get into that in a moment.

    Corporate social responsibility implies compliance plus the active development and implementation of a mainstream business strategy, supported by technological and organizational innovation to prevent, and this is important, social impact while at the same time optimizing social benefits from the outset. Through responsible management, it also involves the mitigation, on an ongoing basis, of negative effects, if and when they occur.

    Historically this was not the case. In fact, Milton Friedman, in his 1970 book The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, made the argument that social performance was totally contained in marketplace performance. I would argue, with all due respect to Milton Friedman, that he is wrong.

    Today we know that social responsibility in business is not entirely up to the marketplace, with the objective of ensuring the private sector extracts profits. Engaging in social responsibility is important not only for the people in the countries where the company is located, but also for its ability to do its best and provide its highest level of performance.

    The approach to corporate social responsibility can be summarized in the following way. Operating a successful business is important with respect to the interests of employees, investors, suppliers and customers. It is important to make social investment in a local community in response to the perceived moral imperatives as well as ensuring a healthy workforce. I will give the House an example.

    I have been to South Africa 13 times. I used to work there in years past. Extractive industries in South Africa found that their employees were rapidly dying due to tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases. The underlying cause of this were viruses known as the HIV class.

    Extractive industries, particularly those involved in diamond and gold manufacturing, could not accept this. The destruction of their workforces was having a profound negative impact on their bottom line. These industries became involved in the health care of their workforce by enabling them to get access to medications, particularly the antiretroviral medications that not only prevent a person going from HIV positive to developing AIDS, but also significantly diminish infecting other people.

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    Allow me a short aside. It is important because this discovery was actually made and championed by the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

    Doctors Montaner and Kerr found that the highly active anti-retroviral therapy, that is, triple therapy, can actually drop the viral load so low for individuals that it prevents them from being able to infect another person. This is actually quite remarkable, because if we can drop somebody's viral load so low as to prevent him or her from being able to infect another person, it dramatically truncates the ability of the virus to infect new people. This is a huge challenge we have in terms of trying to arrest what is arguably the biggest challenge in global health.

    The South African extractive industries got involved in that and were able to keep their workforce healthy. By keeping the workforce healthy, they were able to significantly improve their bottom line. That is the essence of the moral imperative. That is how it connects the moral imperative with the profit-making nature of the private sector.

    It differs quite significantly from Milton Friedman, who believed that the private sector market could, by the very nature of driving toward the acquisition of profit, take care of these social needs as a downstream effect. We now know that is not the case at all.

    We would like to see Canada championing a series of requirements that the private sector understands it has to adhere to when working abroad. If these companies do not, there will be consequences for that. I know that the private sector would like to have those guidelines, because currently these companies are working in the dark a little.

    I believe we have to define for the private sector the guidelines we want it to adhere to in terms of mitigating the environmental and social impacts in all spheres, the biophysical, the economic and the social, and anticipating, preventing and dealing with these at the outset, not after the fact.

    I want to look at the positive and negative effects of extractive industries for a moment. I am glad that the issue of Talisman was brought up, because I was in Sudan when Talisman was there. I went into the bush south of Bahr El Ghazal in Southern Sudan when the war was going on.

     For all that people were harassing and being critical of Talisman for being part of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, the fact of the matter is that Talisman was the only group on the ground providing health care and educational opportunities for the Nuer and Dinka tribespeople who live in Southern Sudan.

    As for removing Talisman, all those people who wanted Talisman to go actually deprived some very impoverished people in Southern Sudan of health care and educational benefits. In the process, Talisman was replaced with another company, which does not care whatsoever what happens to those people. Subsequent to that, Talisman has done what I think is a very good job under the auspices of Greg Manhas and his team to provide a very good model that other extractive industries may wish to look at in terms of corporate social responsibility.

    The downstream effects have been very interesting, not only in terms of the extractive industries but also in terms of other large industrial endeavours in developing countries. We know that developing countries do not have the capacity on the ground and most of them are rife and riven with corruption. We have seen massive environmental damage, horrific health effects on people who live in certain areas, conflict, and something called the Dutch disease.

    What is the Dutch disease? Developing countries have put all their eggs in one basket, an extractive industry, at the expense of maximizing innovation in other non-extractive industries. In the process, they have negatively affected their economy and the downstream effect. By focusing on one industry and not putting adequate resources into other industries to diversify their economies in years to come, they get the Dutch disease. These countries have been negatively affected.

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     Let us look at a couple of examples. What is happening in the delta region in Nigeria right now is horrific. Companies such as Shell and others are committing atrocious acts in collusion with the Nigerian government, I have to say, against the people who live in the delta.

     In Ogoniland, which is part of the delta, we see gas flaring. Gas flaring is causing catastrophic effects on the health of the people who live there, from sky-high cancer levels to other illnesses. The spinoff benefits to the people are negligible at best. The people who are hired on the rigs are not local people. They are foreigners and very few in number. If locals are hired, it is for menial work.

    There is no ability to build capacity in these developing countries. That is what these extractive industries should be doing. It is not for them to be aid agencies, we know that, but it will improve their bottom line if they are able to sensibly utilize some of their profits to invest in the social well-being of the people there.

    They can invest in training and in capacity building, which is key. They can give the people jobs and an opportunity to acquire skills so they will be better able to contribute to their economy. They can give them water security, food security and health care. All of these things could be done by the private sector.

    The Canadian government should work with the private sector to enable this. They could be very good and very willing partners. A partnership between a private sector company and the Canadian government through CIDA could be a very constructive partnership, in effect, by working with people on the ground, with domestic NGOs, in a recipient country to build capacity, to enable countries to have the water security, food security and health care they require and also the economic development these countries need to be able to improve.

    However, some of this is heartbreaking to see. I will give the example of sub-Saharan Africa, which is the poorest area in the world.

     Do members know that sub-Saharan Africa has 40% of the world's natural resources? Yet the poorest people in the world live there. Why is that? Because of lack of capacity and also because of conflict and corruption, what I call the three c's, which are the three biggest problems that affect that part of the world. The extractive industries have the ability to play a very important role here.

    I will also talk for a minute about environmental impacts. I mentioned the devastating effects of oil exploration in Ogoniland in the delta in Nigeria, but we also can look at the Congo River basin in Amazonia.

    In the Congo River basin, particularly in the eastern part of the Congo, there has been a genocide taking place for a number of years. More than 7 million people were killed in under five years in the eastern Congo. Did anyone hear about that? Did anyone care or do anything about that? No, they did not. Right now, every day, day in and day out, this means that the equivalent of four large passenger jets are exploding and killing more than a thousand people. That is the equivalent.

    A thousand people are dying every day in the eastern Congo, but what do we hear? Nothing. Could we imagine what would happen if 1,000 people or even 100 people were dying every day in the west? There would be enormous attention paid to that.

    What is also interesting is that in the eastern Congo there is a lot of extractive industry taking place for coltan, gold, diamonds and other minerals. The absence of any interest is allowing a festering wound to continue on the body politic of the world. The murder, maiming and mass rape of ultimately millions of civilians in eastern Congo is done in front of us but in such a way that no one is paying any attention.

    These issues are not hidden. They are in front of us. The absence of any interest on the part of the west to address these problems is something that I frankly cannot begin to fathom, having seen this so many times myself.

     In Amazonia, the same thing is happening with the destruction of the environment.

     However, not all is for naught. There are things we can do. There are things that Canada could lead on. There is a willingness on the part of our private sector to work with the government to establish a set of guidelines to be adhered to.

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    As I said to the parliamentary secretary, the government should also rewrite the Special Economic Measures Act. SEMA is obsolete. We must have a way of imposing punitive actions against a private sector actor from Canada which is acting in ways that are egregious abroad, ways that we would never tolerate within our own country. I would encourage the Government of Canada to do that.

    I would also say that the government needs to work with the private sector to enable that to happen. It needs a buy-in from the private sector to do that.

    The government could also learn from companies such as Talisman, which has done a good job. I know that some of the other private sector groups in the world, such as Rio Tinto, BHP and placer mining, for example, have been doing some good work in trying to improve their ability to engage in CSR, but I have to say that they need to do a better job of letting the public and us know about that. Many would be willing to work with them.

    I also found it very interesting when dealing with the private sector that while there is certainly some goodwill because companies understand the triple bottom line, they may not necessarily know how to achieve it. There is the ability for those of us in Canada who are involved in this area to offer ideas, solutions and ways of operationalizing this.

    I would suggest that if anyone from the private sector is interested in engaging in this, what they could do is utilize the administrative structure that UNAIDS did. It is called the “Three Ones”. What is it? It is one framework, one operational mechanism, and one oversight mechanism. If companies do that, they are able to utilize their moneys in the most efficient and effective fashion possible.

    I would also suggest dealing with what I would argue is one of the biggest challenges, as I mentioned early on, and that is the issue of capacity building. What international and large NGOs often do, which I think is really criminal, is that they hand a framework to developing countries.

     Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on producing this framework. These NGOs will give it to a developing country and say, “Here it is”. The people of the developing country will look at it and say, “That is nice, but how on earth can we hope to actually implement this if we do not have the capacity to implement?”

    I will use a case as an example. President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia is a remarkable woman. She is trying to dig her country out of years of being subjected to conflict as a result of the greed and avarice of a thug, former president Taylor of Liberia, who subjected his people to unspeakable horrors. He destroyed his country. It was all because of a desire to have diamonds.

    What President Johnson-Sirleaf needs is capacity building. She needs western countries and the private sector to help in building up the capacity within her own country so that Liberians can have the administrative frameworks and the governance structures that are required.

     They need the ability to have the proper checks and balances, the banking system, the legal system and the security apparatus so the people of the country can be secure and also so there is the ability to invest in the educational opportunities the Liberian people need.

    What do we have? Nothing. The world just disappears. Extraction still takes place, but there is an inability to connect the extractive industries and their profits. That is not only for the private sector but, very importantly, for the countries who need to use those moneys to build up their own capacity.

    The last issue is conflict. I want to go again to the issue of Zimbabwe, because it is very important. We know that Mr. Mugabe and the four members of his joint operations committee have destroyed their country. We know that they are burning civilians alive. We know that as Zimbabwe falls, so does the entire southern African region in many ways.

    I would implore the Canadian government to work with SADEC and the African Union to say to the leadership in Zimbabwe that if it does not stop this violence, if it does not allow election monitors to go into the country, and if it does not have a free and open election at the end of this month, then that leadership will be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.

     If the leadership does not comply, then we must tell its members that we are going to organize an invasion force, a multilateral peacemaking force, to go into Zimbabwe. It should not be difficult. We know that 80% of the country is living on less than a dollar a day and most are malnourished and starving. A very small number is brutalizing these people. It needs to be removed.

    The British did it in Sierra Leone and ended a conflict there that claimed a quarter of a million lives. We need to do the same in Zimbabwe as far as I am concerned. If we do not, then our responsibility to protect will mean absolutely nothing.

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Hon. John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege Monday night of having supper with Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel prize laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank. It was a really interesting conversation.

    I would be interested in my learned colleague's views with respect to the issue of social businesses. Social businesses, as conceptualized by Mr. Yunus, are essentially set up in the same manner as regular businesses which have a business plan, model and financing, but at the end when the businesses become profitable, the limitation is that the businesses can only take out their original capital and thereafter whatever moneys are generated by the businesses are pushed back into the businesses for social purposes.

    I know my hon. friend has travelled extensively. I know that he is concerned about these issues. I would be interested in his observations with respect to Professor Yunus' developments, particularly in Bangladesh.

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Hon. Keith Martin:  

    Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for the question and again congratulate him on the passage of his bill that would ensure that CIDA has a mandate for poverty reduction. It was an incredible achievement and we certainly hope that the government comes to the House as soon as possible and tells us how it is going to implement this private member's bill championed by my colleague.

    Dr. Yunus, the champion and originator of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, is really an extraordinary individual. I agree with my friend. I think that what Canada and CIDA should be doing is to expand the work that it has done in terms of microcredit. CIDA does involve itself to some degree in microcredit, but I think it needs to expand its involvement in microcredit because the rate of return on microcredit can be anywhere from 90% to 110%. Second, it should also go beyond microcredit to do exactly what my colleague is talking about which is the utilization of microcredit for social business entrepreneurship.

    There are some remarkable models that have occurred, not only in Bangladesh but also in certain parts of Africa, Central America and South America where this has worked very well. I know my colleague and many of us would like to work with the government, to work with CIDA, and to work with its president, Mr. Greenhill, to ensure that Canada can be a leader in this area which will really get assets on the ground, which does not happen as often as it should.

[Translation]

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Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca for his involvement in this sector.

    The 14th report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development was tabled in the House in March 2005. The government responded in October 2005, and subsequently created a national round table made up of all stakeholders in the mining sector, including NGOs, mining companies and anyone directly or indirectly involved.

    That consultation group carried out its mission for over a year. It consulted people across the country. It issued a number of recommendations on March 29, 2007 including some concerning Canadian standards for corporate social responsibility. Certain recommendations, based on the global reporting initiative, would require the government to produce reports on corporate social responsibility. More importantly, one recommendation called for the creation of an independent ombudsman's office. NGOs and our committee also support that recommendation.

    I would like to know what my hon. colleague thinks of creating an ombudsman's office.

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[English]

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Hon. Keith Martin:  

    Mr. Speaker, it was omitted by the parliamentary secretary, but I would be remiss if I did not say to my friend and colleague that the chair of the foreign affairs committee at the time who did the groundbreaking 2005 report on extractive industries was my colleague who asked the question. So I thank our then chair for doing this. He and the team worked very well to put out a groundbreaking report and I encourage people to actually read it because it is very good.

    This is a very important question. An ombudsman would be good because it would give transparency to an area that historically has been obscured and opaque. The interesting thing is we are not coming down on the private sector. We are offering something that will be beneficial to the private sector, to the extractive industries which are working in the developing world, and to the countries that are there.

    To simply go into a country and engage in extractive industries without being able to make the social investment is really one-half of the opportunity that lies before them. Being able to have an ombudsman, as my friend suggested, would enable the private sector, those companies that are adhering to it, to actually be lauded in our country and be applauded in the private sector for being able to be intelligent in terms of their business plan, intelligent in terms of their investment in their industry, and intelligent in terms of their investment into the social capital in the communities they are working in. It is truly a win-win situation.

    A corollary of this is really what took place in Europe where the European Union came up with a very sensible suggestion. It said that there is an obligation, as European countries, when working in a developing country or in a developed country. If they are paying moneys to the government or to whoever they are paying moneys to, then they have to list those moneys. Those moneys have to be listed and made public. In other words, everyone will know where the moneys are being paid to and in that way they can significantly reduce the corruption factor that is the cancer that eats away at the ability of developing countries to be able to move forward.

    We do not do enough. Often many countries in the west have a traditional view in aid and development and aid is not the answer. Aid is part of the solution. The biggest solution is the ability for investment to get into a country where it can actually grow and improve the social welfare of the people there. That is the answer.

    There is a requirement for an environment which is free of conflict, an environment where there is an adequate judicial system, an adequate security system, and an adequate area where investors can ensure that their investment is not going to be stolen. Any countries that enable that situation to occur will be able to get out from their debt hole which affects 2.5 billion people on our planet who live on less than $2 a day.

    There are so many opportunities, so many things that we can do. I would implore the government to listen to some of the concrete solutions that have been put forward that will enable us to get out of this never-ending cycle where aid really does not go anywhere or does not maximize the ability to help those who are most impoverished in our world. The failure to do that comes to affect us all negatively in the future.

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Hon. John McKay:  

    Mr. Speaker, the interesting conversation with Dr. Yunus and the member's response lead me to wonder whether there should be some consideration for Canadians operating abroad to actually enter into some form of non-profit businesses as part of their corporate social responsibility. For instance, a domestic bank operating internationally enters into something like microfinance.

    I cannot think of an example with respect to a mining company, but if we are asking for some level of corporate social responsibility from our Canadian corporations, why would we not expect that possibly part of their corporate social responsibility include--

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau):  

    The hon. member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca. There is time for a one minute response.

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Hon. Keith Martin:  

    Mr. Speaker, I know my friend could have gone on a lot longer. It was an excellent inspired question.

    A model that can be looked at now is the changes that have occurred in the mining industry in South Africa where they have actually made investments into social businesses, but they could also easily make investments into health care, primary health care as well as into education, capacity building and governance structures. Those are absolutely essential.

    I would say that our government has a role to play in terms of leaning heavily and putting conditionality on the recipient country. If that recipient country's leadership is corrupt, then pressure must be applied to that country and conditionality must be applied to it in terms of our ability to work with it. Also we can get into the removal of trade barriers which--

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau):  

    Resuming debate, the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île.

[Translation]

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Ms. Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ):  

    Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise in the House to discuss this end of session motion concerning an extremely important debate. I would like to reread the motion to keep it at the forefront of our minds:

    That the government provide its response in a reasonable time—

    This is a reasonable motion. This report has been around for so long, the motion could well have said “immediately”. It continues:

—to the advisory group report: National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries.

    Why did I say that the motion could have been even tougher? Because the report it refers to was tabled on March 29, 2007. I would like to clarify, for the benefit of members seated to my right, that this report followed up on another that was tabled on June 20, 2005, the result of work done by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The committee unanimously adopted the 14th report, entitled “Mining in Developing Countries - Corporate Social Responsibility”.

    We were proud of what we accomplished. The report contained provisions that put constraints on companies. It called on the Government of Canada to adopt a series of specific measures to:

ensure that Canadian companies have the necessary knowledge, support and incentives to conduct their activities in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and in conformity with international human rights standards.

    All I want to way about the report is that none of the unanimously adopted recommendations were implemented, except for the one urging the government to meet with companies and stakeholders in the sector. None of the other recommendations were acted upon by the Liberal government under Paul Martin—pardon me, Mr. Speaker, I forgot—

    The Acting Speaker: The member should say, the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard

    Ms. Francine Lalonde: Yes, Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard. And I know that I am not allowed to say that we do not often see him, so I will apologize for that right now.

    Nevertheless, it is fortunate that the work carried out by the round tables, which initially had no follow up because the government had not entered into an agreement with the two other parties, in the end produced fantastic results. In fact, members of the consultative group, Canadian and Quebec NGOs and the experts were able to come to an agreement with a good part of the Canadian extractive industry. Everyone can be proud of the outcome. Some of the recommendations are found in a report to which the government is asked to respond in a reasonable period of time.

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    I will say once again that the report was tabled on March 29, 2007, and therefore, the government should respond as quickly as possible to this report which, I believe, is extremely important.

    First, before discussing the report's main recommendations, I would like to outline the context for this issue. The social and environmental responsibilities of Canadian companies abroad, particularly Canadian extractive companies, has been a concern for some time, not only for my party and, I suppose, for the other parties, but also for all citizens. That is an extremely important factor.

    Second, Canada is a world leader in the mining industry. Per capita, Canada has more mining companies working abroad than any other country. They are found—and we heard groups complain about this—in Africa, South America, and Asia, where Myanmar is one specific example.

    These companies are corporations and, in most cases, are listed on Canadian stock exchanges. Finally and unfortunately—and this is the reason for the complaints and the call to action—these companies are associated with forced population displacements, significant environmental damage, support for repressive regimes, serious human rights violations and sometimes even assassinations. There are many examples.

    One case I want to mention was very closely followed by Parliament, and that was the Talisman affair. Someone mentioned earlier that Talisman had atoned for its sins, if I may put it that way, and today recognizes its social responsibility in the west. But when we in this Parliament heard of Talisman in late 1999 and 2000, the company held shares, along with other countries, in southern Sudan. When Talisman went into Sudan and started working with these other entities, we became aware that by adhering to a contract with the Government of Sudan, these companies had caused a resurgence of the war between north and south, which had been going on for 45 years, since the country gained independence.

    Why did war flare up again when this oil company was bought and revived? Simply because, until then, the two sides in the war were exhausted, both financially and otherwise. With royalties from companies, including Talisman, the Sudanese government armed itself better and resumed waging war on the south.

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    As a result, peace, which otherwise would have been reached sooner, was slower in coming. There was considerable pressure here. A UN report condemned the abuses perpetrated by the company and especially the fact that Talisman was colluding with the army. The report was raised in Parliament, and the minister at the time, Mr. Axworthy, whom I can name because he is no longer here, was questioned. He was very embarrassed by what the UN report said about Talisman, so he sent his own investigator, Mr. Harker, who came back saying the same things. As we understood it, Mr. Axworthy was required to do something. He resigned shortly thereafter.

    The next Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Manley, was also questioned. I also questioned him in committee. Mr. Manley agreed and asked who would be better off if Talisman were forced to leave the country. That is an important question, because the Government of Canada was afraid at the time—and it may still be afraid—that if it tried to do something with one or more of the companies, they would leave.

    Why do I say this? The committee proposed a framework for all Canadian businesses operating abroad because action needs to be taken for more than just a single business on just one occasion. Instead, what is needed is a code for all businesses, rules that can be used to monitor those businesses, rules that, if violated, could result in complaints and rules that will be strictly enforced. All businesses must know that they are being monitored—not just one business.

    I must point out, if I may, that various kinds of businesses exist—and I worked in labour relations for a long time. Some will say that a specific business respects workers and the public, and that it does everything by the book. I do not dispute that; it is quite possible. However, given the increasing importance of shareholders these days, even that business could, at some point, be forced to change its activities. Other businesses do not conform to what is expected of them in terms of their corporate social and economic responsibilities and still others do whatever it takes to shirk them.

    Under such circumstances, we should be quite pleased that the NGOs, the members of the advisory group—which included the government—that was created to look into the situation, and the experts were able to reach an agreement with what was called a large portion of the Canadian mining industry. On March 29, 2007, they urged the Government of Canada, to adopt a set of corporate social responsibility standards that Canadian extractive-sector companies operating abroad are expected to meet.

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    Some observers will say that this report is very restrained. And, since it is the result of a consensus, it may also appear to be effective because it also includes some coercive measures.

    First, it asks that a clear social responsibility standard or code be established that Canadian mining companies would have to abide by abroad. I want to say from the outset that this request comes with financial incentives. The report also asks that companies file an annual report of their activities in order to be listed on the stock exchange. It recommends that an ombudsman be put in place to review complaints and ensure follow-up. The report recommends that offenders no longer be entitled to tax benefits, loan guarantees and other forms of government assistance.

    Armed with the moral authority attached to these measures, Canada could then convince other countries to follow suit in mining and other industries. The committee also wanted Canada and its parliamentarians to propose these same measures in various international fora and parliamentary assemblies. For the first time, the Canadian extractive industry is stepping up to the plate. One might say we are on the eve of a major breakthrough. Let us not forget that there are a great many Canadian industries abroad.

    It is extremely important that the government take this issue seriously. This affects Canada's reputation. It is serious. It affects people's ability to earn a living. How many Africans, South Americans and Asians are struggling right now with Canadian companies that are not demonstrating one bit of the social responsibility that is expected of them?

    I mentioned population displacements. We have all heard members here give a number of examples of such displacements that occur quite simply because that is what the local government wants. I could also mention the collusion between these companies and the governments that profit from the wealth passing through, as the mining companies pay lucrative royalties in order to do as they like, completely undisturbed and often with the support of the army or the local police.

    Although the motion indicates that this needs to be done in a reasonable time, the government must make its position known quickly. To me, a reasonable time means quickly. I hope the government will support what the experts and those who represent the public have agreed on.

    I would be remiss if I did not mention Professor Bonnie Campbell, who played a major role in all this and the mining companies that—

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau):  

    I regret that I must interrupt the hon. member.

    We shall now proceed to questions and comments. The hon. member for Pierrefonds—Dollard.

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Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.):  

    Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for La Pointe-de-l'Île for her involvement on this issue. I should note that when her committee's 14th report was tabled in March 2005, she was the vice-chair.

    I would like to ask her a question and make one or two comments.

    We know that 60% of the mining companies in the world are Canadian. Something rather strange is that in June 2007, the Prime Minister of Canada said the following at the G-8 summit in Germany:

    Canada has recently completed a nation-wide consultation process involving stakeholders with the Canadian extractive sector (mining, oil and gas) in developing countries. Implementation of the recommendations from this process will place Canada among the most active G8 countries in advancing international guidelines and principles on corporate social responsibility in this sector.

    That was three months after the release of the report by the advisory group, which had been created in October 2005. This report contained several recommendations. But it is rather strange that the Prime Minister used the advisory group's report to say that everything was fantastic and that Canada would become very proactive and the best country in the world in terms of corporate social responsibility, but, 15 months later, nothing has been done.

     The primary recommendation in the report was to create an independent ombudsman's office, which would be responsible for receiving complaints from Canadians and non-Canadians about the operations in developing countries of Canadian extractive companies. It also recommended that a tripartite compliance review committee be created. Furthermore, the report recommended that provisions be developed for withdrawing government assistance in the case of serious failure by a company to meet the corporate social responsibility standards.

    Does my colleague support the recommendations of the advisory group?

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Ms. Francine Lalonde:  

    Mr. Speaker, having worked with my colleague for a long time, I would say yes as much as he would.

    I said earlier that it seems extremely important to me that the government respond to and follow up on this report. If the companies and the groups representing those who want Canadian companies to show social and economic responsibility could come to an agreement, it would seem illogical to me that the government is not following up on these recommendations. My colleague has given me a chance to reiterate this very important point.

    I now also have an opportunity to point out that these two parties, by meeting and coming to an agreement, have adopted a concrete approach. The ombudsman will receive complaints. He can launch an investigation, visit the companies, advise them to change their habits. If they do not, he can write a report and recommend sanctions. These sanctions are essential. Some companies do not need the threat of sanctions, others do.

    I do not think that anyone can oppose setting up a framework. So, I am wondering what the government is waiting for. I would like to thank those who made it possible for us to ask these questions today.

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[English]

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in this House and add my support to our government's efforts to promote and encourage effective corporate social responsibility to Canada's extractive sector. I commend all members of all parties for the way they have commended Canada's extractive sector.

     I recognize the complexity of the task at hand and I fully support the government's careful, considered approach to the advisory group's recommendations.

    This issue is far too complex and involves too many different players to feel like we are pressured into moving too quickly and certainly the considered, careful approach is one that we would expect from any responsible government, which is why I am encouraged that our government is taking the time to get it right.

    I am also very encouraged by the enormous progress that Canada has made on this issue over the many years. I was encouraged today when the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out in his speech some very effective, voluntary, corporate social responsible practices that have been put in place by Canadian companies over a number of years.

    We see those responsibilities playing out in many different countries around the world. Many of these companies and industry associations are recognized for the great work they are doing in communities in Canada and abroad in support of education, health and social well-being and diversified economic development. Each one of those is a speech in itself.

     Many corporations and many of our responsible oil companies are helping to enhance the education system, the health care system and the way of life for many people around the world. The government certainly encourages this.

    We encourage and expect all Canadian companies in all sectors to respect all applicable laws and international standards and to work in close collaboration with host governments. We applaud their ongoing efforts to make a positive impact in the communities in which they are operating. However, there is a shared responsibility among all actors, including governments, to ensure the right conditions are in place to facilitate good corporate conduct. We have heard that here in this place today. We have heard different members from other parties talk about the government putting in place good practices and we see that is happening.

    I would like to take a few moments today to recognize some of the great work the government is doing in support of corporate social responsible, or CSR, principles.

    In addition to organizing the round tables under discussion today, Canada is also a strong supporter of the international extractive industries transparency initiative, or EITI. This was one of the advisory group's central recommendations. We can see that the government is living up to that. It has been recommended and we endorse that type of recommendation.

    The initiative supports and promotes improved governance in resource rich developing nations by publishing and verifying all company payments and government revenues stemming from the extractive sector. It is proving to be an effective way of publishing what companies pay and what governments receive in an open, transparent and accountable manner.

    I do not think it is a surprise to anyone that around the world these principles are not universal. These principles are not something that every governing body around the world would sign onto. Therefore, Canada plays a major role in working government to government to encourage these types of socially responsible principles.

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    The advisory group also recommended enhanced public reporting by the Canada Investment Fund for Africa, yet another step this government has endorsed.

    As a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, Canada is a proud signatory to the OECD's guidelines for multinational enterprises. This is a multilateral instrument to promote corporate social responsibility and has been the cornerstone of Canada's approach to this issue.

    This means that Canada is obliged to establish and maintain a national contact point, someone who is responsible for promoting OECD guidelines, handling inquiries and helping to resolve issues concerning specific instances of Canadian businesses' conduct abroad, including the business of mining and oil companies or, what we call, the extractive sector. The principle is being endorsed.

    There has been talk about an ombudsman. We have a contact person responsible for some of that who is a director general within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. This is an effective way to engage stakeholders and to promote a positive, open and constructive dialogue between multinational companies and those that are affected by their operations in those countries.

    As members know, Canada is also a member of the International Labour Organization, or the ILO. We fully support the ILO's tripartite declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy. This is considered to be the universal basic reference point for social responsibility in the context of work or labour.

    Export Development Canada, EDC, announced last year its support for the Ecuador principles. These principles are an international financing benchmark for assessing and managing social and environmental risks in project financing.

    Canada has also provided financial support for a number of domestic and international initiatives aimed at promoting corporate social responsibility. For example, we provided financial support to the UN special representative to the secretary-general on business and human rights.

    We have supported efforts to identify best practices for companies that are operating in combat zones. When Canadian corporations are in countries where conflict and war has broken out, there is a list of best practices for those companies.

    What do Canadians expect? Canadians expect that in those types of situations our Canadian companies remain responsible. Therefore, a clear line of operating principles has been laid out.

    The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is undertaking a comprehensive initiative to ensure that its trade and diplomatic officers in Canada and abroad have the information and tools they need to provide effective corporate social responsible advice to Canadian clients around the world. This includes informational sessions and targeted training modules to ensure our embassies abroad and the regional DFAIT offices have individuals who, when they need training on how to understand the corporate social responsibilities in that given country, are given that training to ensure they have the ability not only to understand the principles laid out, but that they can then pass it on to the companies operating within that jurisdiction.

    We also recognize the importance of fostering close partnerships with host governments in helping developing countries build the capacity they need to establish strong, effective, corporate social responsible regimes in their own countries.

    We do recognize that not all governments, especially those governments in developing countries, have the tools, the knowledge or the capacity to ensure that corporate social responsible principles are being applied in their own countries. If their own home governments are not going to put these polices in place, Canadians can be assured that Canada will.

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    That is why, for example, we are providing financial assistance to help Peru join the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. Peru's adherence to the declaration would be a huge step forward for that country in terms of corporate social responsibility practices and adherence to the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises. Our involvement in Peru also contributes to strengthening economic partnerships in Latin America, a region that is of utmost priority for this government. It is an initiative that we are very proud to support.

    In fact, resource governance is an issue in which Canada can play a big role. Our vast experience in developing our own resources over the decades has given us a wide scope of expertise to share with partners in developing nations. This would be an excellent area of further cooperation as developing countries build up their own expertise and create the foundations for successful, open and responsible extraction sectors that can benefit their citizens.

    The Government of Canada, in partnership with mining associations and aboriginal organizations, has also developed a mining kit to help aboriginal people evaluate and participate in the opportunities offered by the mining sector. This kit is now used and adapted in many countries, including the Philippines, Australia, Norway and Peru. They recognize Canada's initiative and they are following up on our practice. Indeed, Canada's voice on this issue is an influential one that is being heard around the world.

    We are also working closely with our partners through APEC, OAS, La Francophonie and G-8 to communicate the importance of corporate social responsibility principles to the business community. Indeed, at last year's G-8 summit in Germany, leaders agreed to promote a consolidated set of internationally recognized corporate social responsibility guidelines for the extractive sector. This is yet another good example of how we are working with our global partners on this important issue.

    I am happy to say that we are even extending this principled approached to our trade negotiations. The member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca brought up the importance of trade negotiations and the removal of trade barriers.

    As members know, we recently signed a free trade agreement with Peru. While this is a very significant victory for Canadian exporters and investors who will now enjoy unprecedented access to this important market, the agreement is good and important for another reason also. This treaty is Canada's first free trade agreement to include language that encourages the parties to support positive corporate socially responsible practices and reminds enterprises of the importance of incorporating those corporate social responsibility standards in their internal policies. We also signed parallel agreements on labour and the environment.

    Canada is a leader in this. The opposition has asked when the government will come forward with a reply. It is a considered reply. It is a reply that will be coming in due course and we look forward to that.

     We are grateful for the opportunity to share the good things that Canada is doing in--

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The Acting Speaker (Mr. Royal Galipeau):  

    It is my duty to interrupt the proceedings on the motion at this time.

[Translation]

    Accordingly, debate on the motion is deferred until a future sitting.

    We will now move on to statements by members. The hon. member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock has the floor.

Statements by Members

[Statements by Members]