House Publications

The Debates are the report—transcribed, edited, and corrected—of what is said in the House. The Journals are the official record of the decisions and other transactions of the House. The Order Paper and Notice Paper contains the listing of all items that may be brought forward on a particular sitting day, and notices for upcoming items.

For an advanced search, use Publication Search tool.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.

Previous day publication Next day publication

Bilingual view PDF

39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

Journals No. 81 Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:00 a.m.

Prayers

Daily Routine Of Business

Tabling of Documents

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), Mr. Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform) laid upon the Table, — Government responses, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), to the following petitions:

— No. 392-0435 concerning youth. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-392-82-01;

— No. 392-0444 concerning federal programs. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-392-16-10;

— No. 392-0445 concerning student loans. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-392-50-05;

— No. 392-0459 concerning genetic engineering. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-392-3-02.

Presenting Reports from Committees

Mrs. Smith (Kildonan—St. Paul), from the Standing Committee on Health, presented the Fourth Report of the Committee (new organ donor regulations). — Sessional Paper No. 8510-392-102.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee requested that the government table a comprehensive response.

A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meetings Nos. 15, 20 and 23) was tabled.

Motions

Mr. Easter (Malpeque), seconded by Mr. Szabo (Mississauga South), moved, — That the First Report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, presented on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, be concurred in. (Concurrence in Committee Reports No. 16)

Debate arose thereon.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

Ms. Chow (Trinity—Spadina), seconded by Ms. Charlton (Hamilton Mountain), moved, — That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Finance that it have the power to divide Bill C-50, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 26, 2008 and to enact provisions to preserve the fiscal plan set out in that budget, into two or more pieces of legislation.

Debate arose thereon.

Interruption

At 1:14 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 1:38 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Motions

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Ms. Chow (Trinity—Spadina), seconded by Ms. Charlton (Hamilton Mountain), — That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Finance that it have the power to divide Bill C-50, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 26, 2008 and to enact provisions to preserve the fiscal plan set out in that budget, into two or more pieces of legislation.

The debate continued.

Statements By Members

Pursuant to Standing Order 31, Members made statements.

Oral Questions

Pursuant to Standing Order 30(5), the House proceeded to Oral Questions.

Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Nicholson (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada), seconded by Mr. Hill (Secretary of State), — That a message be sent to the Senate to acquaint their Honours that this House:

agrees with amendments numbered 2, 4, 5 and 6 made by the Senate to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal procedure, language of the accused, sentencing and other amendments); but

disagrees with amendment numbered 1 because it would place an undue burden on judges and does not take into consideration provincial and territorial practices that are currently in place to ensure that accused persons are informed of their language rights; and

disagrees with amendment numbered 3 because the Minister of Justice would be unable to comply with the statutory duty imposed by the amendment as provinces and territories do not keep statistics to report on the operation of the language of trial provisions.

The debate continued.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Nicholson (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada), seconded by Ms. Verner (Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages), — That Bill S-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (investigative hearing and recognizance with conditions), be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

The debate continued.

Royal Assent

A message was received informing the Commons that on April 17, 2008, at 3:01 p.m., the Honourable Marshall Rothstein, Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, in his capacity as Deputy of the Governor General, signified Royal Assent by written declaration to the following Bills:

Bill S-203, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals) — Chapter No. 12;

Bill C-298, An Act to add perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and its salts to the Virtual Elimination List under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 — Chapter No. 13;

Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act — Chapter No. 14;

Bill C-40, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, the Canada Student Loans Act and the Public Service Employment Act — Chapter No. 15.

Government Orders

The debate continued.

Tabling of Documents

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), laid upon the Table, — Extract from the House of Commons Debates, dated April 9, 2008. — Sessional Paper No. 8530-392-12.

Government Orders

The debate continued.

Private Members' Business

At 5:30 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 30(6), the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

Mr. Byrne (Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte), seconded by Mr. Volpe (Eglinton—Lawrence), moved, — That the House call upon the government to bring forward an airline passenger bill of rights similar in scope and effect to legal instruments being either proposed or enacted by jurisdictions within Europe and the United States for the purpose of protecting passenger interests in a consistent and rules-based way and to provide a means of ensuring adequate compensation being offered by the airline industry to airline passengers who experience inconveniences such as flight interruptions, delays, cancellations, issues with checked baggage and other inconveniences incurred while travelling on commercial passenger airline services originating from anywhere in Canada. (Private Members' Business M-465)

Debate arose thereon.

Pursuant to Standing Order 93(1), the Order was dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

Returns and Reports Deposited with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(1), papers deposited with the Clerk of the House were laid upon the Table as follows:

— by — Report of VIA Rail Canada Inc., together with the Auditors' Report, for the year ended December 31, 2007, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 150(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-128-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities)

— by — Report of the National Energy Board for the year ended December 31, 2007, pursuant to the National Energy Board Act, R.S. 1985, c. N-7, s. 133. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-188-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources)

— by — Report of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, together with the Auditors' Report, for the year ended December 31, 2007, pursuant to the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, S.C. 2002, c. 23, s. 19.1. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-808-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources)

— by — Report of the Military Police Complaints Commission for the year 2007, pursuant to the National Defence Act, S.C. 1998, c. 35, s. 82. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-733-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on National Defence)

— by — Report of the Canadian Forces Grievance Board for the year 2007, pursuant to the National Defence Act, S.C. 1998, c. 35, s. 7. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-752-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on National Defence)

— by Mr. Toews (President of the Treasury Board) — Report of National Defence (Canadian Forces) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, pursuant to the Employment Equity Act, S.C. 1995, c. 44, sbs. 21(3). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-392-878-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities)

Adjournment Proceedings

At 6:30 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 38(1), the question “That this House do now adjourn” was deemed to have been proposed.

After debate, the question was deemed to have been adopted.

Accordingly, at 6:41 p.m., the Speaker adjourned the House until tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).