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43rd PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

Journals No. 31 Wednesday, November 18, 2020 2:00 p.m.

Prayer

National Anthem

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.

Motions

By unanimous consent, it was resolved, — That the House recognize that the status of French is still fragile, that the use of French is in decline in Quebec and Canada, and call on the government to commit to implementing an action plan in collaboration with the provinces and territories to protect and better promote French in Quebec and Canada.

Deferred Recorded Divisions

Business of Supply

Pursuant to order made Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of Mr. Chong (Wellington—Halton Hills), seconded by Mr. Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles), — That, given that (i) the People’s Republic of China, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, is threatening Canada’s national interest and its values, including Canadians of Chinese origin within Canada’s borders, (ii) it is essential that Canada have a strong and principled foreign policy backed by action in concert with its allies, the House call upon the government to: (a) make a decision on Huawei’s involvement in Canada’s 5G network within 30 days of the adoption of this motion; and (b) develop a robust plan, as Australia has done, to combat China’s growing foreign operations here in Canada and its increasing intimidation of Canadians living in Canada, and table it within 30 days of the adoption of this motion.
The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following division:
(Division No. 23 -- Vote n^o 23)
YEAS: 178, NAYS: 146
YEAS -- POUR Aboultaif Aitchison Albas Alleslev Allison Angus Arnold Atwin Bachrach Baldinelli Barlow Barrett Barsalou-Duval Beaulieu Benzen Bergen Bergeron Berthold Bérubé Bezan Blaikie Blanchet Blanchette-Joncas Blaney (North Island—Powell River) Blaney (Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis) Block Boudrias Boulerice Bragdon Brassard Brunelle-Duceppe Calkins Cannings Carrie Chabot Champoux Charbonneau Chiu Chong Collins Cooper Cumming Dalton Dancho Davidson DeBellefeuille d'Entremont Desbiens Desilets Diotte Doherty Dowdall Dreeshen Duncan (Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry) Duvall Easter Epp Erskine-Smith Falk (Provencher) Fast Findlay (South Surrey—White Rock) Finley (Haldimand—Norfolk) Gallant Garrison Gaudreau Généreux Genuis Gill Gladu Godin Gourde Gray Green Hallan Harder Hardie Harris Hoback Hughes Jansen Jeneroux Johns Julian Kelly Kent Kitchen Kmiec Kram Kurek Kusie Kwan Lake Larouche Lawrence Lehoux Lemire Lewis (Essex) Liepert Lloyd Lobb Lukiwski MacGregor MacKenzie Maguire Manly Martel Masse Mathyssen May (Saanich—Gulf Islands) Mazier McCauley (Edmonton West) McColeman McKay McLean McLeod (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo) McPherson Melillo Michaud Moore Morantz Morrison Motz Nater Normandin O'Connell O'Toole Patzer Paul-Hus Pauzé Perron Plamondon Poilievre Ratansi Rayes Redekopp Reid Rempel Garner Richards Rood Ruff Sahota (Calgary Skyview) Saroya Savard-Tremblay Scheer Schmale Seeback Shields Shin Shipley Simard Singh Sloan Soroka Stanton Steinley Ste-Marie Strahl Stubbs Sweet Therrien Tochor Trudel Uppal Van Popta Vecchio Vidal Viersen Vignola Vis Wagantall Warkentin Waugh Webber Williamson Wilson-Raybould Wong Yurdiga Zimmer Total: -- 178
NAYS -- CONTRE Alghabra Amos Anand Anandasangaree Arseneault Arya Badawey Bagnell Bains Baker Battiste Beech Bendayan Bennett Bessette Bibeau Bittle Blair Blois Bratina Brière Carr Casey Chagger Champagne Chen Cormier Dabrusin Damoff Dhaliwal Dhillon Dong Drouin Dubourg Duclos Duguid Duncan (Etobicoke North) Dzerowicz Ehsassi El-Khoury Ellis Fergus Fillmore Finnigan Fisher Fonseca Fortier Fragiskatos Fraser Freeland Fry Garneau Gerretsen Gould Guilbeault Hajdu Holland Housefather Hussen Hutchings Iacono Jaczek Joly Jones Jordan Jowhari Kelloway Khalid Khera Koutrakis Kusmierczyk Lalonde Lambropoulos Lametti Lamoureux Lattanzio Lauzon LeBlanc Lebouthillier Lefebvre Lightbound Long Longfield Louis (Kitchener—Conestoga) MacAulay (Cardigan) MacKinnon (Gatineau) Maloney Martinez Ferrada May (Cambridge) McCrimmon McDonald McGuinty McKenna McKinnon (Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam) McLeod (Northwest Territories) Mendès Mendicino Miller Monsef Morrissey Murray Ng Oliphant Petitpas Taylor Powlowski Qualtrough Regan Robillard Rodriguez Rogers Romanado Sahota (Brampton North) Saini Sajjan Samson Sangha Sarai Scarpaleggia Schiefke Schulte Serré Sgro Shanahan Sheehan Sidhu (Brampton East) Sidhu (Brampton South) Simms Sorbara Spengemann Tabbara Tassi Trudeau Turnbull Van Bynen van Koeverden Vandal Vandenbeld Vaughan Virani Weiler Wilkinson Yip Young Zahid Zann Zuberi Total: -- 146
PAIRED -- PAIRÉS Nil--Aucun

Daily Routine Of Business

Tabling of Documents

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and 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. 432-00056, 432-00060, 432-00063 and 432-00069 concerning foreign affairs;

— No. 432-00057 concerning business and trade;

— No. 432-00058 concerning food and drink;

— Nos. 432-00059, 432-00061, 432-00066 and 432-00067 concerning justice;

— No. 432-00062 concerning the democratic process;

— Nos. 432-00064 and 432-00065 concerning the environment;

— No. 432-00068 concerning holidays and observances.

Presenting Reports from Committees

Mrs. Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek), from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented the first report of the committee, "Main Estimates 2020-21: Vote 1 under Office of the Auditor General". — Sessional Paper No. 8510-432-12.

A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meeting No. 3) was tabled.

Mrs. Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek), from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented the second report of the committee, "Funding of the Office of the Auditor General". — Sessional Paper No. 8510-432-13.

A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meeting No. 5) was tabled.

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Mr. Manly (Nanaimo—Ladysmith), seconded by Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands), Bill C-252, An Act to provide for transparency in entering trade agreements and foreign investment protection agreements, was introduced, read the first time, ordered to be printed and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Presenting Petitions

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

— by , one concerning foreign affairs (No. 432-00233), one concerning justice (No. 432-00234), one concerning public safety (No. 432-00235) and one concerning health (No. 432-00236);

— by , one concerning transportation (No. 432-00237);

— by , one concerning foreign affairs (No. 432-00238);

— by , one concerning the environment (No. 432-00239);

— by , two concerning justice (Nos. 432-00240 and 432-00241) and one concerning foreign affairs (No. 432-00242);

— by , one concerning justice (No. 432-00243);

— by , one concerning economics and finance (No. 432-00244);

— by , one concerning foreign affairs (No. 432-00245) and one concerning justice (No. 432-00246);

— by , one concerning justice (No. 432-00247).

Questions on the Order Paper

Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the answers to questions Q-102 to Q-104, Q-108, Q-111 and Q-114 on the Order Paper.

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), presented the revised return to the following question made into an order for return:

Q-79 — — With regard to ministers and exempt staff members flying on government aircraft, including helicopters, since January 1, 2019: what are the details of all such flights, including (i) date, (ii) origin, (iii) destination, (iv) type of aircraft, (v) which ministers and exempt staff members were on board? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-79-01.

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the returns to the following questions made into orders for return:

Q-98 — — With regard to the handling of cases and claims pursuant to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement by the Department of Justice Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: how much has been spent on settled cases, requests for direction, and other proceedings where Canada has been either the plaintiff or defendant before appellate courts (such as the Ontario Superior Court or the Supreme Court of British Columbia) related to survivors of St. Anne's Residential School between 2013 and October 1, 2020, (i) in total, (ii) broken down by year? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-98.

Q-99 — — With regard to federal funding in the constituency of Timmins—James Bay, between January 2019 and October 2020: (a) what applications for funding have been received, including for each the (i) name of the organization, (ii) department, (iii) program and sub-program under which they applied for funding, (iv) date of the application, (v) amount applied for, (vi) whether the funding has been approved or not, (vii) total amount of funding allocated, if the funding was approved; (b) what funds, grants, loans, and loan guarantees has the government issued through its various departments and agencies in the constituency of Timmins—James Bay that did not require a direct application from the applicant, including for each the (i) name of the organization, (ii) department, (iii) program and sub-program under which they received funding, (iv) total amount of funding allocated, if the funding was approved; and (c) what projects have been funded in the constituency of Timmins—James Bay by organizations tasked with subgranting government funds (e.g. Community Foundations of Canada), including for each the (i) name of the organization, (ii) department, (iii) program and sub-program under which they received funding, (iv) total amount of funding allocated, if the funding was approved? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-99.

Q-100 — — With regards to federal expenditures in the electoral district of South Okanagan—West Kootenay, broken down by fiscal years 2018-19 and 2019-20: what were the total amounts spent by the federal government, broken down by the (i) department or agency, (ii) community, (iii) contribution agreement, (iv) purpose of spending? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-100.

Q-101 — — With regard to the Softwood Lumber Action Plan announced on June 1, 2017, broken down by department or agency and contribution agreement: (a) what companies, organizations or communities have received funding; (b) how much has been received by each community, company or organization; (c) for what purpose has each contribution been used; (d) for each community, company or organization, how many people have been assisted; (e) have all of the original $867 million dollars been expended, and, if not, how much remains to be expended; and (f) have additional funds been allocated to this action plan or under other government initiatives to assist those negatively impacted by the tariffs put in place by the United States? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-101.

Q-105 — — With regard to the activities of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) during the pandemic: (a) for each of the IRB’s four divisions, broken down by month and for the Eastern, Central and Vancouver divisions, how many hearings were held during the months of April to September in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020; (b) broken down by month, how many refugee protection claims eligible for file review were processed during the months of April to August in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020; (c) between April and August 2020, how many members, as a percentage, received their full pay; (d) what work was required for members working for the IRB; (e) on what date did the IRB Registry and mail room resume processing claims received by mail and fax; (f) as of March 16, 2020, how many Refugee Protection Division (RPD), Refugee Appeal Division (RAD), Immigration Division (ID) and Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) files were pending (backlog) and what was the average time between referral and decision; (g) to date, how many RPD, RAD, ID and IAD files are awaiting a hearing; (h) to date, what is the average time between referral and decision; and (i) how many IRB employees have had vacation leave since the resumption of operations? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-105.

Q-106 — — With regard to the activities of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) during the pandemic: (a) broken down by month, how many confirmations of permanent residence were issued during the months of April to August in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020; (b) broken down by month, how many visas (tourist, student, etc.) were issued during the months of April to August in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020; (c) to date, how many IRCC officers, as a percentage, received the necessary information equipment (telephones, computers, etc.) to enable them to work from home; (d) how many refugee protection claims were received by IRCC between March 17, 2020, and July 31, 2020, and of these, how many were referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB); and (e) what is the current processing time for permanent resident cards, and what was the processing time for the same period in 2019? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-106.

Q-107 — — With regard to federal public servants living in the National Capital Region (NCR): (a) how many public servants worked in the NCR between 2010 and 2019, inclusively, broken down by year and province of residence, and what percentage of public servants (i) lived in Quebec but worked in Ontario, (ii) lived in Ontario, but worked in Quebec, (iii) lived and worked in Ontario, (iv) lived and worked in Quebec; (b) for each year between 2010 and 2019, inclusively, what percentage of the public service payroll is represented by the wages of federal public servants living in the NCR and working in (i) Ontario, (ii) Quebec; and (c) for each year between 2010 and 2019, inclusively, what is the mother tongue of federal public servants living in the NCR and the language most often spoken at work, broken down by province of (i) residence, (ii) work? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-107.

Q-109 — — With regard to the organization and structure of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): (a) what was the organizational structure of PHAC, including a breakdown of how many employees or full-time equivalents working in each branch, location and in each position, as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) October 1, 2020; and (b) what are the details of the positions that have been eliminated or modified since January 1, 2016, including the (i) previous job title, (ii) new job title, if applicable, (iii) previous job description, (iv) new job description, (v) number of positions impacted, (vi) date the position was eliminated or modified, (vii) number of previous positions eliminated, if applicable? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-109.

Q-110 — — With regard to drug products currently awaiting approval and market authorization by Health Canada: (a) what is the complete list of products currently awaiting approval; (b) for each product in (a), what was the (i) date the application was received by the government, (ii) manufacturer, (iii) product name, (iv) summary of product claims, including the list of diseases and conditions the product claims to treat, (v) expected date of decision of approval by Health Canada, if known; and (c) has the time period between the date of application and the decision date by Health Canada, for non-COVID-19 related products increased as a result of reallocating resources during the pandemic, and, if so, what are the specific details, including for which applications and for which products the time period has increased? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-110.

Q-112 — — With regard to the organization and structure of Health Canada: (a) what was the organizational structure of Health Canada, including a breakdown of how many employees or full-time equivalents working in each branch, location, and in each position, as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) October 1, 2020; and (b) what are the details of the positions that have been eliminated or modified since January 1, 2016, including the (i) previous job title, (ii) new job title, if applicable, (iii) previous job description, (iv) new job description, (v) number of positions impacted, (vi) date the position was eliminated or modified, (vii) number of previous positions eliminated, if applicable? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-112.

Q-113 — — With regard to the decision by VIA Rail to lay off workers during the pandemic: (a) what is the total number of workers laid off since March 1, 2020; (b) what is the number of layoffs broken down by date; (c) on what date did the minister responsible for VIA Rail become informed of plans for each of the layoffs in (b); (d) why did VIA Rail not use the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to prevent the layoffs; (e) will VIA Rail management and executives continue to receive bonuses in light of the layoffs; (f) what is the total amount of bonus money paid out so far in 2020; and (g) what is the total amount VIA Rail has received so far in 2020 through (i) CEWS, (ii) other sources of government funding, broken down by source? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-432-113.

Government Orders

The order was read for the second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage of Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

Mr. Guilbeault (Minister of Canadian Heritage), seconded by Ms. Murray (Minister of Digital Government), moved, — That the bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Debate arose thereon.

Private Members' Business

At 6:07 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 30(7), the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

The order was read for the second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Health of Bill C-213, An Act to enact the Canada Pharmacare Act.

Mr. Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby), seconded by Mr. Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie), moved, — That the bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Health.

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 Ms. Anand (Minister of Public Services and Procurement) — Report of the National Capital Commission, together with the Auditor General's Report, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 150(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-432-181-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates)

— by Ms. Bennett (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations) — Service Fees Report of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada from 2019 to 2020, pursuant to the Service Fees Act, S.C. 2017, c. 20, s. 20. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-432-1198-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs)

— by Mr. Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) — Charter Statement — Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-432-1232-08. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage)

Petitions Filed with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 131(1), a petition for a private bill was filed as follows:

— by , from Girl Guides of Canada.

Adjournment Proceedings

At 7:08 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 7:38 p.m., the Speaker adjourned the House until tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).