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

41st PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

Journals No. 136 Friday, October 31, 2014 10:00 a.m.

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

Whereupon, Mr. Devolin (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock), Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole, took the Chair, pursuant to Standing Order 8.

Prayers

Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Oliver (Minister of Finance), seconded by Mr. Duncan (Minister of State), — That Bill C-43, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 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-43, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, because it:

(a) amends dozens of unrelated Acts without adequate parliamentary debate and oversight;

(b) fails to address persistent unemployment and sluggish economic growth;

(d) imposes a poorly designed job credit that will create few, if any, jobs while depleting Employment Insurance Funds; and

(e) breaks the government’s promises to protect small businesses from merchant fees and to ban banks from charging pay-to-pay fees.”.

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), laid upon the Table, — Report on the Operation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the year 2014, pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, sbs. 94(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-412-800-03. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration)

Motions

Ms. Brosseau (Berthier—Maskinongé), seconded by Mr. Chicoine (Châteauguay—Saint-Constant), moved, — That the First Report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, presented on Thursday, March 27, 2014, be concurred in. (Concurrence in Committee Reports No. 21)

Debate arose thereon.

Mr. Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons), seconded by Mrs. Yelich (Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular)), moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

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

Presenting Petitions

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

— by , one concerning the Canada Post Corporation (No. 412-4427);

— by , one concerning genetic engineering (No. 412-4428) and one concerning pesticides (No. 412-4429);

— by , one concerning the Canada Post Corporation (No. 412-4430);

— by , one concerning the Canada Post Corporation (No. 412-4431);

— by , one concerning the grain industry (No. 412-4432);

— by , one concerning genetic engineering (No. 412-4433).

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 return to the following question made into an Order for Return:

Q-670 — — With regard to the Department of Canadian Heritage: (a) does the Department have an internal policy on the processing times for grant and contribution applications for the various program components administered by the Department, and if so, (i) does this internal policy set out the maximum processing times for the Department and for the Minister’s office, and if so, what are they, (ii) are internal or external evaluations done to measure the Department’s compliance with its policy on processing times for grant and contribution applications for programs administered by the Department; and (b) for all of the Department’s various program components, what is the average processing time for grant and contribution applications between the time the Department receives the grant application and the time the Department publicly announces its final decision to the applicant, broken down by program component and quarter, for fiscal years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-412-670.

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-43, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, because it:

(a) amends dozens of unrelated Acts without adequate parliamentary debate and oversight;

(b) fails to address persistent unemployment and sluggish economic growth;

(d) imposes a poorly designed job credit that will create few, if any, jobs while depleting Employment Insurance Funds; and

(e) breaks the government’s promises to protect small businesses from merchant fees and to ban banks from charging pay-to-pay fees.”.

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.

Mr. Fortin (Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia), seconded by Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands), moved, — That the Standing Orders of the House of Commons be amended:

(a) to add the following after Standing Order 14:

“14.1 For the purposes of interpreting the Standing Orders, at the commencement of each session or from time to time as necessity may arise, the Speaker of the House of Commons shall, upon receipt of a letter from the leader of a party or caucus signed by an absolute majority of party or caucus members, announce to the House the names of the House Leaders, Deputy House Leaders, Whips, Deputy Whips and caucus chairs.”

(b) to add the following after Standing Order 37:

“37.1 (1) Except as provided for in Standing Order 10 and Standing Order 11, and notwithstanding the usual practice of the House regarding allocation of a specific number of oral questions to Members of the governing party, each opposition Member shall have the right to ask at least one oral question per week or four oral questions per 20-day cycle during a session, as provided for in Standing Order 30(5).

(2) Upon at least two hours’ written notice to the Clerk prior to the time allocated for Oral Questions, opposition Members may:

(a) exchange this right with another Member;

(b) ask the Whip of their party or caucus to designate another Member for this purpose.

(3) Exchanges are recorded daily at the Table. Party or caucus Whips are required to ensure that their members comply with this Standing Order.”

“104. (1)(a) At the commencement of the first session of each Parliament, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which shall consist of a minimum of eleven Members and a maximum of twelve Members when an independent Member wishes to sit on the committee, and the membership of which shall continue from session to session, shall be appointed. The said Committee shall report to the House, pursuant to section (2) of this Standing Order, within ten sitting days after the establishment of the List for the Consideration of Private Members’ Business provided for in Standing Order 87(1)(a)(i), and thereafter within the first ten sitting days after the commencement of each session and within the first ten sitting days after the second Monday following Labour Day, lists of Members to compose the standing committees of the House pursuant to section (5) of this Standing Order and to act for the House on standing joint committees; provided that the Committee shall not present a second report pursuant to this Standing Order between the second Monday following Labour Day and the end of that calendar year.

(b) When, pursuant to Standing Order 104(1)(a), more than one independent Member wishes to sit on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, the Speaker shall consult with the independent Members and announce to the House the name of the Member selected to sit on this committee. A motion proposing that the Member be appointed shall be deemed to have been moved, seconded and adopted without debate or amendment.

(2) Based on such considerations as the proportionality of the parties and caucuses represented in the House, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs shall prepare the lists of Members designated to sit on the standing committees of the House provided for in section (5) of this Standing Order using, in reverse order, the results of the random draw to establish the List for the Consideration of Private Members’ Business stipulated in Standing Order 87(1)(a)(i). After removing the names of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House as well as the names of the Ministers of the Crown, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs shall ask each Member whose name is on the List, including independent Members, on which standing committee they would like to sit until all positions on the committees have been filled. If required, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs shall follow the procedure again to complete the lists of members.

(3) For each standing committee and standing joint committee provided for in this Standing Order, a list of associate members deemed to be members of this committee for the purposes of Standing Orders 108(1)(b) and 114(2)(a) and who may act as substitutes on this committee pursuant to Standing Order 114(2)(b) shall be established in accordance with the procedure stipulated in section (2) of this Standing Order.

(4) Notwithstanding the process provided for in section (2) of this Standing Order, when two Members of the same caucus or two independent Members have given at least 48 hours’ written notice to the Clerk stating that they wish to make a permanent exchange in the membership of the committee, this exchange shall come into effect once the said notice has expired.

(5) The standing committees, which shall consist of a minimum of eleven Members and a maximum of 12 Members when an independent Member wishes to sit on a such a committee, and for which the lists of members are to be prepared, except as provided for in section (1) of this Standing Order, shall be on:

(a) Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development;

(b) Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics;

(d) Canadian Heritage;

(e) Citizenship and Immigration;

(f) Environment and Sustainable Development;

(g) Finance;

(h) Fisheries and Oceans;

(i) Foreign Affairs and International Development;

(j) Government Operations and Estimates;

(k) Health;

(l) Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities;

(m) Industry, Science and Technology;

(n) International Trade;

(o) Justice and Human Rights;

(p) National Defence;

(q) Natural Resources;

(r) Official Languages;

(s) Procedure and House Affairs;

(t) Public Accounts;

(u) Public Safety and National Security;

(v) Status of Women;

(w) Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; and

(x) Veterans Affairs.

(6) The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs shall also report lists of Members in accordance with the same procedure provided for in section 104(2) of this Standing Order to act for the House on the Standing Joint Committees on:

(a) the Library of Parliament;

(b) Scrutiny of Regulations;

Provided that a sufficient number of Members shall be appointed so as to keep the same proportion therein as between the memberships of both Houses.

(7) If a seat on a standing or standing joint committee becomes vacant during a session, the first member of the caucus to which the seat has been designated who decided to become an associate member pursuant to the process provided for in section 104(3) of this Standing Order is automatically appointed to the committee, and that member’s name is removed from the list of associate members of that committee. If no member of this caucus is an associate member, the party or caucus whose member vacated a seat on the committee shall appoint one of its members to sit on the committee and shall provide the Clerk with written notification of the member’s name within 48 hours of the position becoming vacant. A position on a committee that has been left vacant by an independent Member shall be filled by the first independent Member who chose to be an associate member, pursuant to the process provided for in section 104(3) of this Standing Order. The name of the Member thus appointed to the committee is removed from the said committee’s list of associate members. If the said committee has no independent Members on its list of associate members, the committee will henceforth be composed of 11 members until a new list of members is established pursuant to section 104(1) of this Standing Order.”

that the new Standing Orders 14.1 and 37.1 come into effect on the first sitting day following a scheduled adjournment of the House, pursuant to Standing Order 28(2)(a);

that the amendments to Standing Order 104 come into effect at the commencement of the next session or on the first sitting day following the next Labour Day, whichever occurs first;

that the Clerk of the House be authorized to make any required editorial and consequential alterations to the Standing Orders. (Private Members' Business M-535)

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.

Presenting Reports from Committees

Pursuant to the User Fees Act, S.C. 2004, c. 6, sbs. 6(2), a report recommending that Fisheries and Oceans Canada's User Fees and Service Standard Proposal for Aquaculture Licences (Sessional Paper No. 8564-412-10-01) be adopted was deemed presented by the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

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 — Agreements for RCMP policing services (First Nations Community Policing Service) for the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia, pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S. 1985, c. R-10, sbs. 20(5). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-412-475-18. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security)

— by — Actuarial Report (including certification of assets) on the Regular Force Death Benefit Account as at March 31, 2013, pursuant to the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, R.S. 1985, c. C-17, s. 71(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-412-395-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates)

— by Mr. Clement (President of the Treasury Board) — Actuarial Report (including the certificate of assets) on the Pension Plan for the Members of Parliament for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, pursuant to the Public Pensions Reporting Act, R.S. 1985, c.13 (2nd Supp.), sbs. 9(1). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-412-519-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates)

Adjournment

At 2:30 p.m., the Acting Speaker adjourned the House until Monday at 2:00 p.m., pursuant to Order made Monday, October 27, 2014.