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Thursday, March 12, 2009 (No. 29)

Orders of the Day

Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne

Address Debate — maximum of 6 appointed days, pursuant to Standing Order 50(1).

January 26, 2009 — Resuming the adjourned debate on the motion of , seconded by , — That the following Address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada:

To Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, 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

January 26, 2009 — The President of the Treasury Board — Consideration of the Business of Supply.

Supply period ending March 26, 2009 — maximum of 7 allotted days, pursuant to Standing Order 81(10)(a).

Days to be allotted — 1 day remaining in current period.

Opposition Motions

February 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of this House, the Government should take all necessary steps to repatriate forthwith to Canada, Mr. Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was originally a child soldier, and is presently incarcerated at the United States military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be dealt with in Canada under Canadian law.

February 3, 2009 — — That, in the matter of the December 2008 radioactive emission leak and the subsequent alleged contamination of the Ottawa River from the Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL) site at Chalk River Ontario, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Prime Minister table before the House, any and all correspondence, including electronic messages, or otherwise, detailing when the government was first informed of the incident, when the public was informed, and when Parliament was notified, as well as tabling a detailed list of all remedial and mitigation measures undertaken by the government and/or by AECL concerning the incident.

February 3, 2009 — — That the Standing Committee on Natural Resources be instructed to undertake a study of the spill and leak of radioactive material that took place at Chalk River nuclear facility on or about December 5, 2008, including an examination of how the accident was reported to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the Department of Natural Resources, the Minister of Natural Resources and the public and that, in the opinion of the House, the government should cooperate fully with this study including: (a) ensuring that the Minister of Natural Resources appear before the Committee during the study; (b) providing the Committee with a precise timeline of the events in question; and (c) providing the Committee with all papers, documents, records and other information it needs to conduct its study.

February 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of the House, science, research and innovation are the foundations of a strong economy and job creation and require consistent funding and commitment to make Canada a leader in discovery and innovation, and that the government should re-establish the position of National Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and ensure there is consistent and globally competitive federal funding for science, research and innovation in Canada.

February 3, 2009 — — That the accountability reports to Parliament on the implementation and impacts of the January 27th Budget, as required by the amendment proposed by the Official Opposition and adopted by this House on February 2nd, be automatically and immediately referred to the Parliamentary Budget Officer for his urgent examination and analysis; and that the Parliamentary Budget Officer provide his opinion to Parliament on each of these accountability reports as quickly as possible.

February 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of the House: (a) the Parliamentary Budget Officer is an independent officer of the Library of Parliament who reports to the Speakers of both Chambers and is, subject to direction from the Speakers and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, entitled to decide how to fulfill his mandate and obligations as set out in section 79.2 of the Parliament of Canada Act; (b) the Parliamentary Librarian must ensure that the overall control and management of the Library of Parliament facilitates the ability of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to fulfill that mandate and obligations; and (c) the government should co-operate fully with the Parliamentary Budget Officer on all matters with respect to which he is called upon to report.

February 3, 2009 — — That the Speaker immediately communicate to Her Excellency the Governor General that, for the duration of the present Parliament, this House regards only the following motions as legitimate tests of whether the House has confidence in the Government:

1. a motion that explicitly states that the House has or does not have confidence in the Government;

2. a Ways and Means motion emanating from a Budget presentation, or a motion for Second Reading, concurrence at Report Stage, or Third Reading of any bill or bills based thereon; and

3. a motion to concur in Interim Supply or in the Main Estimates, or a motion for Second Reading, concurrence at Report Stage, or Third Reading of any bill or bills based thereon.

February 24, 2009 — — That the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology create a subcommittee whose membership will be composed of seven (7) members, with all the powers and authority of the Standing Committee, to undertake a study of the crisis faced by the automotive industry in Canada, that the subcommittee invite representatives of the industry, labour unions, retail dealers and relevant individuals to appear as witnesses, that the subcommittee hold at least eight meetings and travel to the regions of Canada where the local economies are highly integrated with the automotive sector, and that the subcommittee report its findings and recommendations directly to the House no later than April 29, 2009.

March 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should reaffirm its commitment to gender equality and to the principle of a woman's legal and human right to pay equity and should immediately implement the recommendations from the 2004 Pay Equity Taskforce Report, as women: (a) have historically been denied equal pay for work of equal value; and (b) are economically disadvantaged due to inequitable employment practices.

March 3, 2009 — — That this House calls on the government to recognize Canadians’ right to know and the principle of open government, rather than placing further restrictions on the release of information and opting for increased secrecy, and therefore this House urges the government to introduce within 30 days legislation based on former Information Commissioner John Reid’s draft bill to revise the Access to Information Act, in consultation with Information Commissioner Robert Marleau.

March 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of the House, consumers are particularly vulnerable in tough economic times and deserve to be protected from unscrupulous business practices of some individuals and companies; and therefore the House calls on the government to introduce, within six months, a comprehensive Consumer's Bill of Rights, in consultation with Canadian business, consumer groups and other stakeholders.

March 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of the House, there is an urgent need for timely, temporary and targeted stimulus spending into our fragile economy; and that government spending must be done with the utmost transparency and include measures to ensure oversight and accountability, and therefore this House regrets the government’s decision to create an unaccountable $3,000,000,000 slush fund under Treasury Board Vote 35 of the 2009–10 Main Estimates, and requests that the government:

(a) table all plans and evaluations for spending of the fund during the 90 day period of disbursement with the appropriate standing committees;

(b) provide the Office of the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer with any and all information they require to assist Parliament with budgetary oversight; and

March 3, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of this House, the government should:

cease new approvals in the Athabasca Oil Sands development until environmental and social impacts have been adequately evaluated and until a verifiable sustainable development plan is in place and develop a sustainable strategy for the future of the oil sands and coal-fired electricity;

use the US-Canada Clean energy dialogue as a first step toward engaging US President Obama in a common effort, in the interests of future generations, to bring our two countries to the forefront of international efforts to reduce and reverse climate change and, therefore, the House calls on the government to augment Canadian efforts to fight climate change through measures including, but not limited to:

(a) the negotiation of a North American cap and trade system that establishes absolute targets for reducing carbon emissions based on internationally accepted baselines;

(b) the establishment of a renewable energy strategy with ambitious and enforceable targets for renewal energy production;

(c) preparing Canada for the economy of tomorrow through a comprehensive plan for green job creation, including the retooling of the auto sector through a green auto strategy;

further, the Commissioner for Environment and Sustainable Development should provide parliamentary updates on these initiatives no later than May 31, 2009 and at six-month intervals thereafter.

March 6, 2009 — — That, in the opinion of this House, the government should inform the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation no later than March 15, 2009 whether it will receive any funding in the 2009-2010 fiscal year beyond that contained in the Main Estimates 2009-2010 Part I and II, and the extent of that funding if any.

March 6, 2009 — — That, notwithstanding the government's recent decision to cut Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) funding from many African and francophone countries, in the opinion of this House, all African countries and members of La Francophonie removed from CIDA's priority list should have their places on that list restored, and CIDA support for development activities should continue, as contemplated by the commitment made by the Minister responsible for La Francophonie at the 2008 Québec Summit of La Francophonie and in support of Canada's traditional leadership role in Africa.

March 6, 2009 — — That, given the Information Commissioner’s report on February 26, 2009, which condemns “a lack of leadership at the highest levels of government”, this House call upon the government to amend the Access to Information Act to include, as part of its purpose, that “every government institution shall make every reasonable effort to assist persons requesting access and to respond to each request openly, accurately and completely and without unreasonable delay”, and further, to provide a general “public interest” override for all exemptions, so the public interest is put before government secrecy, as promised in the 2006 election platform of the Conservative Party of Canada.

March 10, 2009 — — That, due to the extraordinary nature of the spending authority proposed in Treasury Board Vote 35 in the Main Estimates for 2009-2010, this House calls upon the government to table in the House, by April 3rd, 2009, a list of the departments and programs which are likely to require access to this extraordinary authority; and

on each occasion that the government uses Vote 35, this House calls upon the government to table in the House, within one sitting day of each such use, a report disclosing:

(a) the name and location of each project to which the funding is being provided (including the federal electoral district in which it is located),

(b) the amount of federal funding,

(d) what each project is intended to achieve in fighting the recession, and why it requires recourse to Vote 35 rather than any other source of funds; and

that each such report shall be posted on a publicly accessible government website, and referred immediately to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates and to the Auditor General.

Ways and Means

No. 2 — January 27, 2009 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Income Tax Act. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-402-7, tabled on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

No. 3 — January 27, 2009 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Excise Tax Act relating to the goods and services tax and harmonized sales tax (GST/HST). — Sessional Paper No. 8570-402-8, tabled on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

No. 4 — January 27, 2009 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Customs Tariff. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-402-9, tabled on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

No. 5 — February 2, 2009 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on January 27, 2009 and related fiscal measures. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-402-10, tabled on Monday, February 2, 2009.

No. 7 — March 5, 2009 — — Consideration of a Ways and Means motion to amend the Income Tax Act. — Sessional Paper No. 8570-402-12, tabled on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

Government Bills (Commons)

C-2^R — March 11, 2009 — — Resuming consideration at report stage of Bill C-2, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the States of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Republic of Iceland, the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Kingdom of Norway and the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Swiss Confederation, as reported by the Standing Committee on International Tradewith an amendment.

Resuming debate on Motion No. 1.

Committee Report — presented on Wednesday, March 4, 2009, Sessional Paper No. 8510-402-29.

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

C-6^R — January 29, 2009 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Health of Bill C-6, An Act respecting the safety of consumer products.

C-7^R — February 25, 2009 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Marine Liability Act and the Federal Courts Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

C-8 — February 2, 2009 — The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development of Bill C-8, An Act respecting family homes situated on First Nation reserves and matrimonial interests or rights in or to structures and lands situated on those reserves.

C-9^R — March 11, 2009 — — On or after Friday, March 13, 2009 — Consideration at report stage of Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, as reported by the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities with amendments.

Committee Report — presented on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, Sessional Paper No. 8510-402-34.

C-13 — March 3, 2009 — Resuming consideration of the motion of , seconded by , — That Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Canada Grain Act, chapter 22 of the Statutes of Canada, 1998 and chapter 25 of the Statutes of Canada, 2004, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

C-14 — February 26, 2009 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of Bill C-14, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (organized crime and protection of justice system participants).

C-15 — February 27, 2009 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

C-16^R — March 4, 2009 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development of Bill C-16, An Act to amend certain Acts that relate to the environment and to enact provisions respecting the enforcement of certain Acts that relate to the environment.

C-18^R — March 9, 2009 — — Second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates of Bill C-18, An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, to validate certain calculations and to amend other Acts.

Government Bills (Senate)

Government Business

No. 1 — January 25, 2009 — — That this House take note of the economic and fiscal situation in Canada.

Concurrence in Committee Reports

No. 1 — February 26, 2009 — Resuming the adjourned debate on the motion of , seconded by , — That the First Report of the Standing Committee on Status of Women, presented on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, be concurred in.

Thursday, March 12, 2009 — designated day, pursuant to Standing Order 66(2).

Debate — 2 hours and 14 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