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41st PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

Journals No. 117 Friday, May 4, 2012 10:00 a.m.

The Clerk informed the House of the unavoidable absence of the Speaker.

Whereupon, Ms. Savoie (Victoria), Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole, took the Chair, pursuant to subsection 43(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act.

Prayers

Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Flaherty (Minister of Finance), seconded by Mr. Oliver (Minister of Natural Resources), — That Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance;

And of the amendment of , seconded by , — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:

“this House decline to give second reading to Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, because it:

(a) weakens Canadians’ confidence in the work of Parliament, decreases transparency and erodes fundamental democratic institutions by systematically over-concentrating power in the hands of government ministers;

(b) shields the government from criticism on extremely controversial non-budgetary issues by bundling them into one enormous piece of legislation masquerading as a budgetary bill;

(c) undermines the critical role played by such trusted oversight bodies as the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the CSIS Inspector General and the National Energy Board, amongst many others, thereby silencing institutional checks and balances to the government’s ideological agenda;

(d) raises the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67 years in a reckless effort to balance the government’s misguided spending on prisons, incompetent military procurement and inappropriate Ministerial expenses;

(e) includes provisions to gut the federal environmental assessment regime and to overhaul fish habitat protection that will adversely affect fragile ecosystems and Canada’s environmental sustainability for generations to come;

(f) calls into question Canada’s food inspection and public health regime by removing critical oversight powers of the Auditor General in relation to the Canada Food Inspection Agency all while providing an avenue and paving the way for opportunities to privatize a number of essential inspection functions; and

(g) does nothing to provide a solution for the growing number of Canadians looking for employment in Canada’s challenging job market and instead fuels further job loss, which according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer will amount to a total loss of 43,000 jobs in 2014.”.

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.

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) laid upon the Table, — Government responses, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), to the following petitions:

— Nos. 411-0749, 411-0774 and 411-0835 concerning asbestos. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-1-12;

— Nos. 411-0760 and 411-0778 concerning housing policy. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-49-03;

— No. 411-0765 concerning species at risk. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-73-03;

— No. 411-0822 concerning climate change. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-34-13.

Presenting Reports from Interparliamentary Delegations

Pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), presented the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the Meeting of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 14, 2012. — Sessional Paper No. 8565-411-51-07.

First Reading of Senate Public Bills

Pursuant to Standing Order 69(2), on motion of Mr. Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) for Mr. Duncan (Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development), seconded by Mr. O'Connor (Minister of State), Bill S-6, An Act respecting the election and term of office of chiefs and councillors of certain First Nations and the composition of council of those First Nations, was read the first time and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Presenting Petitions

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, petitions certified correct by the Clerk of Petitions were presented as follows:

— by , one concerning certain diseases (No. 411-0976) and one concerning climate change (No. 411-0977);

— by , one concerning human trafficking (No. 411-0978) and one concerning the Criminal Code of Canada (No. 411-0979);

— by , one concerning health care services (No. 411-0980) and one concerning poverty (No. 411-0981);

— by , one concerning the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (No. 411-0982) and one concerning national parks (No. 411-0983);

— by , one concerning Old Age Security benefits (No. 411-0984).

Questions on the Order Paper

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), Mr. Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the returns to the following questions made into Orders for Return:

Q-535 — — With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' (DFO) cuts to the Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP): (a) how many jobs will be lost due to these cuts and in what regions will any and all job losses occur; (b) what similar resources, if any, are available to small and medium-sized businesses in the aquaculture industry for research and development; (c) what has been the total budget allocated for the ACRDP in each of the past ten years; (d) what is the breakdown of all money spent by the DFO on the ACRDP over the past ten years; (e) with what companies has the ACRDP worked and where are they located; (f) what tangible benefits have been generated by research done by the ACRDP; and (g) is there a rise in correlated risks to the aquaculture industry that can be anticipated as money available for research is decreased? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-411-535.

Q-539 — — With respect to the possible detection of Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) Virus in the Pacific Coast fish population: (a) since 2001, how many times have fish originating from the Pacific Coast, both farmed and wild, been tested by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for the presence of ISA; (b) what were the results of these tests; (c) at which laboratory (or laboratories) were these tests conducted; (d) what diagnostic tools were or are used by DFO to determine whether or not ISA is present in fish samples; and (e) is a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) used or are other tools used? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-411-539.

Government Orders

And of the amendment of , seconded by , — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:

“this House decline to give second reading to Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, because it:

(b) shields the government from criticism on extremely controversial non-budgetary issues by bundling them into one enormous piece of legislation masquerading as a budgetary bill;

The debate continued.

Private Members' Business

At 1:30 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 30(6), the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Genest (Shefford), seconded by Ms. Morin (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot), — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) keep with Canada’s obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the right to housing under the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; (b) support efforts by Canadian municipalities to combat homelessness; and (c) adopt measures to expand the stock of affordable rental housing, with a view to providing economic benefits to local housing construction businesses. (Private Members' Business M-331)

The debate continued.

At 2:30 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 93, the Deputy Speaker interrupted the proceedings.

The question was put on the motion and, pursuant to Standing Order 93(1), the recorded division was deferred until Wednesday, May 9, 2012, immediately before the time provided for Private Members' Business.

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 Auditor General's Report, for the year ended December 31, 2011, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 150(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-128-02. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities)

— by — Report of Ridley Terminals Inc., together with the Auditor General's Report, for the year 2011, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 150(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-770-03. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities)

— by — Summaries of the Corporate Plan for 2012-2016 and the Capital Budget for 2012 of the Canada Post Corporation, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 125(4). — Sessional Paper No. 8562-411-841-02. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities)

— by — Report of Operations under the International River Improvements Act for the year 2011, pursuant to the International River Improvements Act, R.S. 1985, c. I-20, s. 51. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-168-02. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development)

— by — Agreements for RCMP policing services (First Nations Community Policing Service) for the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S. 1985, c. R-10, sbs. 20(5). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-475-44. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security)

— by — Orders in Council approving certain appointments made by the Governor General in Council, pursuant to Standing Order 110(1), as follows:

— P.C. 2012-456. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-1-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development)

— P.C. 2012-505. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-2-06. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food)

— P.C. 2012-497 to P.C. 2012-499. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-3-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage)

— P.C. 2012-478 to P.C. 2012-486. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-14-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration)

— P.C. 2012-453 and P.C. 2012-520. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-8-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development)

— P.C. 2012-446. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-18-07. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Health)

— P.C. 2012-458 to P.C. 2012-476, P.C. 2012-503 and P.C. 2012-504. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-16-07. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities)

— P.C. 2012-502. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-22-06. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology)

— P.C. 2012-457. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-28-03. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade)

— P.C. 2012-501. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-13-04. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights)

— P.C. 2012-506. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-30-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security)

— P.C. 2012-487 and P.C. 2012-489 to P.C. 2012-496. — Sessional Paper No. 8540-411-24-07. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(6), referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities)

Petitions Filed with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, a petition certified correct by the Clerk of Petitions was filed as follows:

— by , one concerning the Criminal Code of Canada (No. 411-0985).

Adjournment

At 2:32 p.m., the Deputy Speaker adjourned the House until Monday at 11:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).