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42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

Journals No. 293 Monday, May 7, 2018 11:00 a.m.

Prayer

Private Members' Business

At 11:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 30(6), the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

Mr. Long (Saint John—Rothesay), seconded by Ms. Dabrusin (Toronto—Danforth), moved, — That the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be instructed to undertake a study of the Record Suspension Program to: (a) examine the impact of a record suspension to help those with a criminal record reintegrate into society; (b) examine the impact of criminal record suspension fees and additional costs associated with the application process on low-income applicants; (c) identify appropriate changes to fees and service standards for record suspensions; (d) identify improvements to better support applicants for a criminal record suspension; and that the Committee present its final report and recommendations to the House within nine months of the adoption of this motion. (Private Members' Business M-161)

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.

Government Orders

The Order was read for the consideration at report stage of Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, as reported by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities with amendments.

Ms. Chagger (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism) for Ms. Hajdu (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour), seconded by Ms. Monsef (Minister of Status of Women), moved, — That the Bill, as amended, be concurred in at report stage.

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

Accordingly, the Bill, as amended, was concurred in at report stage.

Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(11), Ms. Chagger (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism) for Ms. Hajdu (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour), seconded by Ms. Monsef (Minister of Status of Women), moved, — That the Bill be now read a third time and do pass.

Debate arose thereon.

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

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Mr. Rodriguez (Honoré-Mercier), seconded by Ms. Tassi (Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas), Bill C-402, An Act to change the name of certain electoral districts, was introduced, read the first time, ordered to be printed and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Motions

By unanimous consent, it was ordered, — That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-402, An Act to change the name of certain electoral districts, be deemed read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

Presenting Petitions

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

— by , three concerning discrimination (Nos. 421-02330 to 421-02332);

— by , one concerning the electoral system (No. 421-02333);

— by , one concerning Old Age Security benefits (No. 421-02334);

— by , one concerning navigable waters (No. 421-02335) and one concerning the Canada Post Corporation (No. 421-02336);

— by , one concerning discrimination (No. 421-02337);

— by , one concerning health care services (No. 421-02338);

— by , one concerning post-secondary education (No. 421-02339).

Questions on the Order Paper

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), Mr. Lamoureux (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-1584 — — With regard to the Connecting Canadians Program: (a) which regional development agencies and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada programs related to regional economic development were consulted in the development of the program; (b) if any agencies or programs were not consulted, why was this the case; (c) how much has been allocated to the program since 2015-16, broken down by region and fiscal year; (d) how much has been spent on the program since 2015-16, broken down by region and fiscal year; (e) how many previously unconnected people, broken down by region and year, have been connected to high-speed Internet per the program’s definitions since it was launched, broken down by year and region; and (f) for each approved project, which communities were intended to be served? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1584.

Q-1585 — — With regard to the various receptions held by or funded by the government, including the Canadian High Commission, in India during the Prime Minister’s trip in February 2018: (a) what were the dates and locations of each reception; and (b) for each reception in (a), what was the total (i) food catering costs, including set up and labour, (ii) beverage or alcohol costs, including set up and labour, (iii) other costs, including a breakdown of each? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1585.

Q-1586 — — With regard to expenditures in relation to the Canadian delegation to Davos, Switzerland, in January 2018, and based on invoices, contracts, or receipts received to date: (a) what is the total of all such expenditures; and (b) what are the details for each expenditure, including (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) description of goods or services provided, (iv) file number, (v) date? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1586.

Q-1587 — — With regard to government expenditures, since December 1, 2017, for all vendors with a mailing address in Switzerland: what are the details of all such expenditures, including (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) date, (iv) description of goods or services provided, (v) file number? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1587.

Q-1588 — — With regard to the statement by the Prime Minister on March 15, 2018, that “Dr. Boyer was recommended by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments”: how does the government reconcile this statement with the fact that, as of the date of the appointment, all of the positions for provincial or territorial members of the Advisory Board were vacant, according to the board’s website? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1588.

Q-1589 — — With regard to the state visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians: (a) who was responsible for making the arrangements for Their Majesties’ arrival ceremony at Rideau Hall; (b) who ordered the German flags for use on the grounds of Rideau Hall for the arrival ceremony; (c) who was responsible for placing the German flags on site; (d) did the government apologize to the Government of Belgium for this incident; and (e) if the answer to (d) is affirmative, what are the details, including (i) who made the apology, (ii) to whom was it given, (iii) when was it given, (iv) what was the manner of the apology (e.g. formal letter, verbal)? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1589.

Q-1590 — — With regard to expenditures on paper calendars by the government, since November 4, 2015, and broken down by department, agency or other government entity: what is the total amount spent on paper calendars, broken down by year? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1590.

Q-1591 — — With regard to Statistics Canada and specifically the incident described in the March 11, 2018, CBC story, where 587 long-form census forms were stored in the trunk of an employee's vehicle that was stolen on a weekend trip to Montreal: (a) were the completed census forms ever recovered and, if so, when; (b) were the individuals whose information was stolen notified about the incident and, if so, when and how; (c) did the Statistics Canada employee who left the forms in his trunk violate any government policies or procedures and, if so, which ones; and (d) what specific changes have been made to the manner in which census information is stored as a result of this incident? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1591.

Q-1592 — — With regard to the 2016 Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) changes: (a) since July 2016, how many single seniors have received the full $947 annually, broken down by year and province; (b) since July 2016, how many single seniors have a received a top up due to the 2016 changes, broken down by year and province; (c) what was the median increase for a top up in the GIS due to the 2016 changes, broken down by year and province; (d) how many single seniors are below the $8,400 income threshold, broken down by year and province; (e) how many seniors living in an economic family are below the $8,400 income threshold, broken down by year and province; (f) what is the average top up due to the 2016 changes, broken down by year and province; (g) has the government achieved its goal of improving the financial security of about 900,000 single seniors; (h) how has the government arrived at the numbers indicating that changes to the GIS will reduce poverty rates; (i) are seniors becoming low income at a much faster rate than the rest of the population; (j) how many Canadian seniors have lived in poverty since 2016; (k) how many full-time employees (FTE) are working on the Seniors Price Index; and (l) has the government looked at any other method than the consumer price index to calculate the GIS and, in the affirmative, which method? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1592.

Q-1593 — — With regard to automatic enrollment for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS): (a) were all local Service Canada employees sent a memo regarding the automatic enrollment; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, what were the details of the memo; (c) if the answer to (a) is negative, why not; (d) what instructions and training did Service Canada employees receive in the months leading up to the automatic roll out of the GIS; (e) as of January 2018, how many new seniors are eligible to access (i) Old Age Security (OAS), (ii) GIS; (f) of those new eligible seniors in (e), how many were automatically enrolled and what are the reasons others who are eligible were not enrolled; (g) as of January 2018, how many letters have been sent out to seniors indicating they will automatically receive (i) OAS, (ii) GIS; (h) how many seniors automatically received their (i) OAS, (ii) GIS; (i) as of January 2018, how many seniors had to manually apply to (i) OAS, (ii) GIS; (j) what were the reasons for those seniors to manually apply to (i) OAS, (ii) GIS; (k) how many eligible seniors in Canada are not enrolled in (i) OAS, (ii) GIS; (l) has the government identified the reasons for this gap in (k); (m) is the automatic enrollment expected to reduce this and by what percentage point; (n) will the government automatically enroll all seniors currently eligible for the GIS and, in the affirmative, (i) what is the timeline for implementing this, (ii) how many seniors were not aware of their eligibility to the GIS program in 2017; (o) is the automatic enrollment in function of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) information; (p) is this in correlation the previous year’s income; (q) will filling income tax be necessary to be a recipient of automatic enrollment process; (r) if any, what are the exemptions, broken down by (i) health reasons, (ii) others; (s) how many seniors are expected to not be automatic enrolled due to missing CRA information; and (t) are there any identified groups of people that will be impacted due to their missing CRA information and, in the affirmative, how will Employment and Social Development Canada address this? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1593.

Q-1594 — — With regard to the Speaker’s ruling of March 20, 2018, that “There is no question that the work of Members of Parliament is made more difficult without expeditious access to legislative information. Given this reality, there is a rightful expectation that those responsible for the information should do their utmost to ensure Members access to it. Not respecting this expectation does a disservice to all. It is particularly disconcerting when the Government gives priority to the media over the Members of Parliament.”: What measures have been taken by the Prime Minister`s Office and the Privy Council Office to comply with the Speaker`s admonition in his ruling? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1594.

Pursuant to Standing Order 39(7), Mr. Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the supplementary return to the following question made into an Order for Return:

Q-1568 — — With regard to any contracts over $10,000 entered into by the government since January 1, 2016, but which were not disclosed on proactive disclosure: what are the details of all such contracts including (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of goods or services provided, (v) file number, (vi) reason why contract was not listed on the relevant proactive disclosure website? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-421-1568-01.

Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Ms. Hajdu (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour), seconded by Ms. Monsef (Minister of Status of Women), — That Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, be now read a third time and do pass.

The debate continued.

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

Accordingly, the Bill was read the third time and passed.

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 the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada for the year 2017, pursuant to the National Defence Act, R.S. 1985, c. N-5, s. 250.17. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-421-733-03. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on National Defence)

— by — Report of the Military Grievances External Review Committee for the year 2017, pursuant to the National Defence Act, R.S. 1985, c. N-5, sbs. 29.28(2). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-421-752-03. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on National Defence)

Petitions Filed with the Clerk of the House

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

— by , two concerning cruelty to animals (Nos. 421-02340 and 421-02341) and one concerning the fur industry (No. 421-02342).

Adjournment Proceedings

At 6:00 p.m., by unanimous consent, 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 6:29 p.m., the Speaker adjourned the House until tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).