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40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION

Journals No. 60 Monday, May 25, 2009 11:00 a.m.

Prayers

Vacancies

The Speaker informed the House that a vacancy had occurred in the representation in the House of Commons, for the Electoral District of Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, in the Province of Québec, by reason of the resignation of Mr. Paul Crête, and that, on Thursday, May 21, 2009, pursuant to paragraph 25(1)(b) and subsection 26(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act, a warrant was addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill the vacancy.

Private Members' Business

At 11:04 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 30(7), the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

Item No. 1 in the order of precedence, standing in the name of Mr. Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville), was called and, not having been proceeded with, in accordance with Standing Order 42(2), dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper. (Private Members' Business C-301)

Interruption

At 11:05 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:00 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Government Orders

The Order was read for the second reading and reference to the Standing Committee on International Trade of Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia.

Mr. Day (Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway), seconded by Ms. Oda (Minister of International Cooperation), moved, — That the Bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Debate arose thereon.

Mr. Cardin (Sherbrooke), seconded by Mr. Ménard (Hochelaga), moved the following amendment, — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word "That" and substituting the following:

“the House decline to give second reading to Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, because the government concluded this agreement while the Standing Committee on International Trade was considering the matter, thereby demonstrating its disrespect for democratic institutions.”.

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

Tabling of Documents

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), Mr. Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary 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. 402-0299 to 402-0308 and 402-0312 concerning the Canada Post Corporation. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-402-36-06;

— Nos. 402-0389, 402-0395 and 402-0396 concerning service medals. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-402-21-04.

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Ms. Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe), seconded by Mr. Masse (Windsor West), Bill C-392, An Act respecting the use of government procurements and transfers to promote economic development, was introduced, read the first time, ordered to be printed and ordered for a second reading at the next sitting of the House.

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Ms. Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North), seconded by Mr. Masse (Windsor West), Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Patent Act (drugs for international humanitarian purposes) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, 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 correct by the Clerk of Petitions were presented as follows:

— by , one concerning police and firefighters' death benefits (No. 402-0509);

— by , two concerning the Canada Post Corporation (Nos. 402-0510 and 402-0511);

— by , one concerning the situation in Sri Lanka (No. 402-0512);

— by , one concerning the situation in Colombia (No. 402-0513);

— by , one concerning the situation in Sudan (No. 402-0514);

— by , one concerning the protection of the environment (No. 402-0515);

— by , one concerning transportation (No. 402-0516) and one concerning the situation in Sri Lanka (No. 402-0517);

— by , one concerning the situation in Colombia (No. 402-0518).

Questions on the Order Paper

Mr. Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the answers to questions Q-114 and Q-117 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 returns to the following questions made into Orders for Return:

Q-13 — — With respect to the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), when will the government have the necessary administrative mechanisms in place so that Canadians can benefit from the RDSP program? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-13.

Q-109 — — With respect to performance pay for the Chief Executives of Crown corporations in 2008, for each individual, without identifying him or her by name: (a) what is his or her level in the salary scale; (b) what is his or her performance appraisal rating; (c) what is the maximum bonus, in percentage terms, which he or she could be entitled to receive; (d) what was the amount of the bonus paid, as a percentage of salary; and (e) what was the amount of the bonus paid, in dollars? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-109.

Q-111 — — With regard to Employment Insurance: (a) how many part-time staff have been hired since June 2008, by month; (b) how many full-time staff have been hired since June 2008, by month; (c) how many part-time and full-time staff have been hired in each region since June 2008, by month; and (d) how many service telephone lines are working in each region and how many of these telephone lines are staffed at one time? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-111.

Q-115 — — With regard to the regional development agency for Southern Ontario mentioned in the 2009 budget: (a) what economic studies were conducted by the government with respect to the creation of a separate regional development agency for Southern Ontario, (i) when did these studies begin, (ii) which stakeholders, organizations, municipal governments were consulted, (iii) how much money has been earmarked for this new agency by the government, (iv) were any of the Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDC’s) consulted and, if so, which ones; (b) which federal electoral ridings will be under the jurisdiction of this new agency; (c) have any Aboriginal communities been consulted, especially on the Six Nations and New Credit reserves and, if so, which ones; (d) will the new agency be modeled after any of the existing regional development agencies; (e) will the new agency have a dedicated Minister, Assistant Deputy Minister and, if not, under which department will the new agency be governed; (f) what is the government’s planned date for this new agency to be fully operational; (g) have any rural groups, organizations, stakeholders been consulted in terms of the scope or mandate of this new agency and, if so, which ones; (h) what will be the mandate of this new agency; (i) what, if any, are the specific programs this agency has already committed to support and in which town or cities are these programs based; (j) what specific programs will this agency invest that will help workers, communities and businesses in Southern Ontario position themselves to take advantage of opportunities, as economic growth recovers in Canada and around the world; and (k) will the $20 million earmarked for the Eastern Ontario Development Program as stated in the 2009 Budget be in addition to the promised $1 billion for the new Southern Ontario agency, or will this $20 million come out of the $1 billion budget? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-115.

Q-116 — — With regards to the announcement that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will steer its foreign aid toward a smaller pool of 20 countries, down from 25 announced under the previous government in 2005: (a) what were the criteria established by the department by which countries were (i) removed from the 2005 list, (ii) added to the new list of recipients; (b) when did consultation begin to discuss removing or adding countries from focus list; (c) who took part in these discussions; (d) were any non-governmental organizations, multilateral organizations, church organizations or any other third party stakeholders consulted about the proposed changes to CIDA’s focus list and, if so, which ones specifically; (e) how specifically were the obligations of the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act taken into consideration by the Agency when establishing criteria for adding or removing countries and how were the perspectives of the poor taken into account during the decision making process; (f) when, how and by whom were countries removed from the list informed of CIDA’s decision; (g) what are the projected funds to be delivered to each specific country on the new focus list; (h) what are the specific programs to be funded in each country on the new focus list; (i) does CIDA have on-the-ground field workers in each of the countries on the new focus list and, if so, how many; and (j) what accountability measures are being put in place in each of the new countries of focus to ensure that the provisions of the Act are being adhered to? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-116.

Q-151 — — With respect to the government's hospitality spending: (a) how much did the government spend on the purchase of alcoholic drinks for hospitality purposes including wine, beer and hard liquor, during receptions and other similar events, such as lunches, dinners, meetings, and all such similar gatherings, hosted in the Parliamentary precinct, for the fiscal year 2007-2008; and (b) what departmental measures are in place to monitor expenditures on alcohol at public expense? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-402-151.

Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Day (Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway), seconded by Ms. Oda (Minister of International Cooperation), — That Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade;

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:

The debate continued.

Ms. Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan), seconded by Mr. Julian (Burnaby—New Westminster), moved the following subamendment, — That the amendment be amended by adding after the word “matter” the following:

“, including having heard vocal opposition to the accord from human rights organizations”.

Debate arose thereon.

Deferred Recorded Divisions

Government Orders

Pursuant to Standing Order 45, the House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians), seconded by Mr. O'Connor (Minister of State), — That 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, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
The House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of Mr. Russell (Labrador), seconded by Mr. Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre), — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word "That" and substituting the following:
“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, be not now read a second time but that it be read a second time this day six months hence.”.
The question was put on the amendment and it was negatived on the following division:
(Division No. 68 -- Vote n^o 68)
YEAS: 120, NAYS: 125
YEAS -- POUR Allen (Welland) Angus Ashton Atamanenko Bagnell Bains Bélanger Bellavance Bevilacqua Bevington Bigras Blais Bourgeois Brison Byrne Cannis Cardin Charlton Chow Christopherson Coady Coderre Comartin Crowder Cullen Cuzner Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) Davies (Vancouver East) Deschamps Dewar Dhaliwal Dhalla Dorion Dosanjh Dryden Duceppe Dufour Easter Eyking Faille Folco Gagnon Godin Goodale Gravelle Guarnieri Guay Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord) Hall Findlay Harris (St. John's East) Holland Hughes Hyer Ignatieff Jennings Julian Kania Karygiannis Laforest Laframboise Lalonde Lavallée Layton LeBlanc Lee Lemay Leslie Lessard Lévesque MacAulay Malhi Maloway Marston Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca) Martin (Winnipeg Centre) Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) Masse Mathyssen McCallum McGuinty McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood) Ménard (Hochelaga) Mendes Minna Mulcair Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe) Murphy (Charlottetown) Nadeau Neville Pacetti Paillé Patry Pearson Pomerleau Proulx Rae Rafferty Ratansi Regan Rodriguez Rota Roy Russell Savage Scarpaleggia Siksay Silva Simms Simson Szabo Thibeault Tonks Trudeau Valeriote Vincent Volpe Wasylycia-Leis Wilfert Wrzesnewskyj Zarac Total: -- 120
NAYS -- CONTRE Abbott Ablonczy Aglukkaq Albrecht Allen (Tobique—Mactaquac) Allison Ambrose Anders Anderson Ashfield Baird Benoit Bezan Blackburn Blaney Block Boucher Boughen Braid Breitkreuz Brown (Leeds—Grenville) Brown (Newmarket—Aurora) Bruinooge Cadman Calandra Calkins Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country) Cannon (Pontiac) Casson Chong Clarke Clement Cummins Dechert Del Mastro Devolin Dreeshen Duncan (Vancouver Island North) Dykstra Fast Finley Fletcher Galipeau Gallant Glover Goodyear Gourde Grewal Guergis Harper Harris (Cariboo—Prince George) Hawn Hill Hoback Hoeppner Holder Jean Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission) Kenney (Calgary Southeast) Kent Komarnicki Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings) Lake Lauzon Lebel Lemieux Lukiwski Lunn Lunney MacKay (Central Nova) MacKenzie Mark Mayes Menzies Merrifield Miller Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam) Moore (Fundy Royal) Nicholson Norlock O'Connor Obhrai Oda Paradis Payne Petit Poilievre Preston Raitt Rajotte Rathgeber Reid Richards Richardson Rickford Ritz Saxton Scheer Schellenberger Shea Shipley Shory Sorenson Stanton Storseth Strahl Sweet Tilson Toews Trost Tweed Van Kesteren Van Loan Vellacott Verner Wallace Warawa Warkentin Watson Weston (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country) Weston (Saint John) Wong Woodworth Yelich Young Total: -- 125
PAIRED -- PAIRÉS André Asselin Bachand Beaudin Bonsant Brown (Barrie) Brunelle Carrie Carrier DeBellefeuille Desnoyers Flaherty Goldring Lobb Malo McColeman McLeod O'Neill-Gordon Paquette Prentice Smith Thi Lac Thompson Uppal

Returns and Reports Deposited with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(1), a paper deposited with the Clerk of the House was deemed laid upon the Table on Wednesday, May 20, 2009:

— by — Department of Public Works and Government Services User Fees Amendment Proposal for services relating to the Esquimalt Graving Dock, pursuant to the User Fees Act, S.C. 2004, c. 6, sbs. 4(2). — Sessional Paper No. 8564-402-4-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates)

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(1), papers deposited with the Clerk of the House were laid upon the Table as follows:

— by — Summaries of the Corporate Plan for 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 and of the Operating and Capital Budgets for 2009-2010 of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-11, sbs. 125(4). — Sessional Paper No. 8562-402-847-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Finance)

Adjournment Proceedings

At 7:03 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 7:32 p.m., the Speaker adjourned the House until tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).