;

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


Tuesday, February 25, 2014 (No. 51)

Orders of the Day

Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne

October 16, 2013 — Consideration of the motion for an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne, — That the following Address be presented to His Excellency the Governor General:

To His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:

We, Her Majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects, the House of Commons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

Government Orders

Business of Supply

October 16, 2013 — The President of the Treasury Board — Consideration of the Business of Supply.

Supply period ending March 26, 2014 — maximum of 7 allotted days, pursuant to Standing Order 81(10)(a).

Days to be allotted — 2 days remaining in current period.

Opposition Motion — Deferred recorded division

February 24, 2014 — Deferred recorded division on the motion of , seconded by , — That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that, during its consideration of Bill C-23, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, the Committee shall: (a) hear witnesses from, but not limited to, Elections Canada, political parties as defined under the Canada Elections Act, the Minister of State who introduced the Bill, representatives of First Nations, anti-poverty groups, groups representing persons with disabilities, groups representing youth advocates and students, as well as specific groups which have been active in society on elections rules; (b) have the power to travel to all regions of Canada, (Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Northern Ontario, the Prairies, British Columbia and the North), including downtown urban settings, rural and remote settings, and that the Committee request that this travel take place in March and April 2014; and (c) only proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill after these hearings have been completed, with a goal to commence clause-by-clause consideration on Thursday, May 1, 2014.

Recorded division — deferred until Tuesday, February 25, 2014, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders, pursuant to Standing Order 45.

Opposition Motions

October 22, 2013 — — That the Board of Internal Economy begin posting the travel and hospitality expenses of Members, on a quarterly basis, to the Parliament of Canada website in a manner similar to the guidelines used by the government for proactive disclosure of ministerial expenses.

October 22, 2013 — — That the Board of Internal Economy begin posting individual Member's Expenditure Reports, on a quarterly basis, to the Parliament of Canada website in a format more accessible to the public.

October 22, 2013 — — That the House call on the Auditor General to undertake performance audits of the House of Commons administration every three years.

October 22, 2013 — — That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be directed to develop guidelines under which the Auditor General is asked to perform more detailed audits of parliamentary spending and report these guidelines to the House no later than March 31, 2014.

October 31, 2013 — — That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to propose amendments to the Standing Orders that would provide Members with a mechanism to address Members’ dissatisfaction with government responses to written questions, in a manner similar to the adjournment proceedings process for oral questions; and that the Committee report these proposed amendments to the House no later than March 7, 2014.

October 31, 2013 — — That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to recommend changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions governing Oral Questions, and to consider, among other things, (i) elevating decorum and fortifying the use of discipline by the Speaker, to strengthen the dignity and authority of the House, (ii) lengthening the amount of time given for each question and each answer, (iii) examining the convention that the Minister questioned need not respond, (iv) allocating half the questions each day for Members, whose names and order of recognition would be randomly selected, (v) dedicating Wednesday exclusively for questions to the Prime Minister, (vi) dedicating Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for questions to Ministers other than the Prime Minister in a way that would require Ministers be present two of the four days to answer questions concerning their portfolio, based on a published schedule that would rotate and that would ensure an equitable distribution of Ministers across the four days; and that the Committee report its findings to the House, with proposed changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions, within six months of the adoption of this order.

November 5, 2013 — — That, in the opinion of this House, the government should honour the service of Canadian military and RCMP veterans and their families by: (a) reversing the decision to close down the Veterans Affairs offices in Corner Brook, Charlottetown, Sydney, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Brandon, Saskatoon, Kelowna, and Prince George; (b) recognizing that the government has a legal, moral, social and fiduciary duty towards the men and women that the government put in harm’s way; (c) immediately implementing the recommendations put forward by the Veterans Affairs ombudsman on the New Veterans Charter; and (d) respecting the mandate of the stakeholder meeting to provide meaningful consultations with Canadian veterans.

November 5, 2013 — — That an Order of the House do issue for a copy of the following documents in the possession of the Government of Canada: (a) e-mail messages sent or received from Nigel Wright, from December 3, 2012 to May 20, 2013; (b) e-mail messages received from Nigel Wright, or his attorneys, by the government since May 20, 2013; (c) e-mail messages sent or received by Chris Woodcock, Benjamin Perrin, David van Hemmen, Jenni Byrne, Ray Novak, and Patrick Rogers from December 3, 2012 to the present; (d) e-mail messages from within the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) where Senate expenses or Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin or Patrick Brazeau are mentioned not contained in (c) above for the same time period; (e) records of communication between Senator David Tkachuk and the PMO from December 3, 2012 to the present; (f) minutes of any meetings at the PMO where Senate expenses or Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin or Patrick Brazeau were mentioned from December 3, 2012 to the present; and (g) cheques received by the government from Senator Mike Duffy or his attorneys related to expenses in the last two years.

November 19, 2013 — — That, in light of the Federal Court of Canada finding on May 23, 2013 by Justice Richard Mosley that the Conservative CIMS database was the likely source of election fraud in ridings across the country in the 2011 general election, the House call on Elections Canada to fully enforce the Canada Elections Act for the current by-elections in Provencher, Brandon—Souris, Toronto Centre, and Bourassa, paying close attention to any reports of similar fraudulent activity, and to report to the House within ninety calendar days any complaints or evidence that it has received of such fraudulent activity taking place.

November 19, 2013 — — That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to recommend changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions governing Oral Questions, and to consider, among other things, (i) elevating decorum and fortifying the use of discipline by the Speaker, to strengthen the dignity and authority of the House, (ii) lengthening the amount of time given for each question and each answer, (iii) examining the convention that the Minister questioned need not respond, (iv) allocating half the questions each day for Members, whose names and order of recognition would be randomly selected, (v) dedicating Wednesday exclusively for questions to the Prime Minister, (vi) dedicating Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for questions to Ministers other than the Prime Minister in a way that would require Ministers be present two of the four days to answer questions concerning their portfolio, based on a published schedule that would rotate and that would ensure an equitable distribution of Ministers across the four days; and that the Committee report its findings to the House, with proposed changes to the Standing Orders and other conventions, within six months of the adoption of this order.

January 23, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should make affordability a central focus of Budget 2014, including the reduction of ATM fees, the elimination of fees for paper copies of bills, working with the provinces and territories to crack down on the predatory practices of payday lenders, creating a gas price watchdog, and working with the financial sector to ensure Canadians have access to low-interest credit cards.

January 23, 2014 — — That the House call on the Minister of Transport to present by March 1, 2014 a plan with clear timelines to phase out progressively the use in Canada of DOT-111 (CTC-111A) rail tank cars for the transportation of dangerous goods.

January 23, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, in the wake of the loss of nearly 50,000 jobs across Canada in December 2013 alone, and the Bank of Canada prediction that household debt will contribute to the continued underperformance of our economy over the next two years, the government should take immediate action to reduce current record levels of household debt.

January 28, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, many payday lenders exploit vulnerable Canadians and that the House call on the government to (a) take federal leadership in protecting Canadians from predatory lending rates; (b) ban extra fees and other loopholes that push effective lending rates beyond the criminal rate of 60 percent; and (c) work with the provinces and financial institutions to increase the accessibility to financial services for low-income Canadians.

January 28, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, credit card interest rates are too high as a result of an uncompetitive marketplace and that the House call on the government to ensure Canadians can have access to a low-rate, no frills credit card.

January 28, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, Canadians face unfair new fees for paper bills and that the House call on the government to announce immediate action in Budget 2014 to ban pay-to-pay fees.

January 31, 2014 — — That the House call on the government to refrain from spending any taxpayer funds to advertise any matter related to the 2014 Budget, including during the coverage of the upcoming Olympics, until such time as the measures have actually been implemented and made available to Canadians.

January 31, 2014 — — That the Board of Internal Economy begin posting the travel and hospitality expenses of Members, on a quarterly basis, starting with the last quarter of 2013, to the Parliament of Canada website in a manner similar to the guidelines used by the government for the proactive disclosure of ministerial expenses.

February 20, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada should be allowed to investigate electoral fraud and report on investigations.

February 20, 2014 — — That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that, during its consideration of Bill C-23, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, the Committee be granted the power to expand the scope of the Bill in order to: (a) increase the number of Canadian citizens that are eligible to vote; (b) improve the accuracy of the National Register of Electors; and (c) open the eligibility of those who can be added to the National Register of Electors.

February 20, 2014 — — That, in the opinion of the House, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada should be allowed to encourage and promote democracy.

Ways and Means

No. 3 — November 22, 2013 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Customs Tariff. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-412-3, tabled on Friday, November 22, 2013.

No. 6 — February 12, 2014 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government;

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 not approve the budgetary policy of the government as it:

(a) fails to take any meaningful action to create jobs while 1.3 million Canadians are unemployed;

(b) refuses to work cooperatively with the provinces on federal transfers, skills training, and infrastructure funding;

(d) does not introduce a youth hiring and training tax credit to combat soaring youth unemployment;

(e) threatens to unilaterally impose the Canada Job Grant over the unanimous objection of the provinces;

(f) pushes ahead with office closures and cuts to veterans’ services;

(g) repeats previous governments’ misuse of EI funds; and

(h) slashes billions of dollars from the health care plans of Canadian public service retirees.”.

Budget debate — maximum of 4 days, pursuant to Standing Order 84(2).

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 — 3rd day.

Voting on the amendment — not later than 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government business, pursuant to Standing Order 84(5).

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 — 4th and final day.

Voting on the main motion — not later than 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government business, pursuant to Standing Order 84(6).

No. 7 — February 11, 2014 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Income Tax Act and other tax legislation. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-412-8, tabled on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

No. 8 — February 11, 2014 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Excise Tax Act. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-412-9, tabled on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

No. 9 — February 11, 2014 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Excise Act, 2001 and the Excise Tax Act. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-412-10, tabled on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

No. 10 — February 11, 2014 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Customs Tariff. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-412-11, tabled on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.

Government Bills (Commons)

C-2 — January 30, 2014 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-2, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security;

And of the motion of , seconded by , — That this question be now put.

C-5^R — February 12, 2014 — — Consideration at report stage of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and other Acts and to provide for certain other measures, as reported by the Standing Committee on Natural Resources with amendments.

Committee Report — presented on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, Sessional Paper No. 8510-412-44.

C-6 — February 6, 2014 — — Consideration at report stage of Bill C-6, An Act to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions, as reported by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development with an amendment.

Committee Report — presented on Thursday, February 6, 2014, Sessional Paper No. 8510-412-38.

Report stage motions — see “Report Stage of Bills” in today's Notice Paper.

C-8 — January 31, 2014 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-8, An Act to amend the Copyright Act and the Trade-marks Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, be now read a third time and do pass.

C-10 — February 12, 2014 — — Consideration at report stage of Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in contraband tobacco), as reported by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights without amendment.

Committee Report — presented on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, Sessional Paper No. 8510-412-41.

C-11 — November 20, 2013 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act (priority hiring for injured veterans), be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

C-12 — November 25, 2013 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

C-13 — November 29, 2013 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

C-17 — December 6, 2013 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Health of Bill C-17, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act.

C-18^R — December 9, 2013 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food of Bill C-18, An Act to amend certain Acts relating to agriculture and agri-food.

C-20^R — January 29, 2014 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-20, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Honduras, the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Honduras and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Honduras, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade.

C-21 — January 29, 2014 — The President of the Treasury Board — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates of Bill C-21, An Act to control the administrative burden that regulations impose on businesses.

C-22^R — January 30, 2014 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources of Bill C-22, An Act respecting Canada's offshore oil and gas operations, enacting the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, repealing the Nuclear Liability Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts.

C-24 — February 6, 2014 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration of Bill C-24, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

Government Bills (Senate)

S-3 — February 11, 2014 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans of Bill S-3, An Act to amend the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act.

Government Business

No. 3 — October 17, 2013 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That this House take note of the Canadian economy, and

(a) recognize that Canadians' top priority remains economic growth and job creation; and

(b) commend the government's economic record which includes the creation of more than one million net new jobs since July 2009, a banking system recognized as the safest and soundest in the world for the past six years, and the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio among G7 countries;

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

“(b) condemn the Conservatives' economic record, which has resulted in over 1.3 million unemployed Canadians, drastic cuts to Employment Insurance, growing inequality and the dowloading of billions of dollars of costs to individuals and other levels of government; and

(c) call on the government to introduce a real plan to create high-quality jobs and combat stagnating wages, provide tax incentives targeted to hire young Canadians, improve retirement security through increased Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan benefits, and reduce credit card fees charged to small businesses and Canadian families.”.

No. 6 — February 5, 2014 — — That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, a bill in the name of the Minister of Labour, entitled An Act to provide for the continuation and resumption of rail service operations, shall be disposed of as follows:

(a) the said bill may be read twice or thrice in one sitting;

(b) not more than two hours shall be allotted for the consideration of the second reading stage of the said bill, following the adoption of this Order;

(d) any division requested in the Committee shall be deferred until the end of the Committee’s consideration of the bill;

(e) not more than one hour shall be allotted for the consideration of the Committee of the Whole stage of the said bill;

(f) not more than one-half hour shall be allotted for the consideration of the third reading stage of the said bill, provided that no Member shall speak for more than ten minutes at a time during the said stage and that no period for questions and comments be permitted following each Member’s speech;

(g) at the expiry of the time provided for in this Order, any proceedings before the House or the Committee of the Whole shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the stage, then under consideration, of the said bill shall be put and disposed of forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment, and no division shall be deferred;

(h) when the Speaker has, for the purposes of this Order, interrupted any proceeding for the purpose of putting forthwith the question on any business then before the House, the bells to call in the Members shall be sounded for not more than thirty minutes;

(i) commencing when the said bill is read a first time and concluding when the said bill is read a third time, the House shall not adjourn except pursuant to a motion proposed by a Minister of the Crown;

(j) no motion to adjourn the debate at any stage of the said bill may be proposed except by a Minister of the Crown; and

(k) during the consideration of the said bill in the Committee of the Whole, no motion that the Committee rise or that the Committee report progress may be proposed except by a Minister of the Crown.

No. 8 — February 24, 2014 — — That this Committee take note of the evolving situation in Ukraine.

Take-note debate — limited to 4 hours, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1(3).

Subject to Special Order — see Journals of Monday, February 24, 2014.

Concurrence in Committee Reports

No. 1 — February 6, 2014 — Resuming the adjourned debate on the motion of , seconded by , — That the Third Report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented on Monday, December 2, 2013, be concurred in.

Thursday, February 27, 2014 — designated day, pursuant to Standing Order 66(2).

Debate — 45 minutes remaining, pursuant to Standing Order 66(2).

Voting — not later than the expiry of the time provided for debate.


^R Recommended by the Governor General

House Publications

Orders of the Day

Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne

Government Orders

Business of Supply

Ways and Means

Government Bills (Commons)

Government Bills (Senate)

Government Business

Concurrence in Committee Reports