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41st PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

Journals

No. 122

Friday, May 11, 2012

10:00 a.m.



Prayers
Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Flaherty (Minister of Finance), seconded by Mr. Oliver (Minister of Natural Resources), — That Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance;

And of the amendment of Ms. Nash (Parkdale—High Park), seconded by Mr. Caron (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques), — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:
(a) weakens Canadians’ confidence in the work of Parliament, decreases transparency and erodes fundamental democratic institutions by systematically over-concentrating power in the hands of government ministers;
(b) shields the government from criticism on extremely controversial non-budgetary issues by bundling them into one enormous piece of legislation masquerading as a budgetary bill;
(c) undermines the critical role played by such trusted oversight bodies as the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the CSIS Inspector General and the National Energy Board, amongst many others, thereby silencing institutional checks and balances to the government’s ideological agenda;
(d) raises the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67 years in a reckless effort to balance the government’s misguided spending on prisons, incompetent military procurement and inappropriate Ministerial expenses;
(e) includes provisions to gut the federal environmental assessment regime and to overhaul fish habitat protection that will adversely affect fragile ecosystems and Canada’s environmental sustainability for generations to come;
(f) calls into question Canada’s food inspection and public health regime by removing critical oversight powers of the Auditor General in relation to the Canada Food Inspection Agency all while providing an avenue and paving the way for opportunities to privatize a number of essential inspection functions; and
(g) does nothing to provide a solution for the growing number of Canadians looking for employment in Canada’s challenging job market and instead fuels further job loss, which according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer will amount to a total loss of 43,000 jobs in 2014.”.

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), Mr. MacKay (Minister of National Defence) laid upon the Table, — Copy of documents concerning armoured vehicles. — Sessional Paper No. 8530-411-9.

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:

— No. 411-0750 concerning gasoline prices. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-72-02;
— Nos. 411-0753 and 411-0754 concerning the federal public service. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-80-02;
— Nos. 411-0755 to 411-0757 concerning prostitution. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-50-04;
— No. 411-0764 concerning Azerbaijan. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-88-01;
— Nos. 411-0766, 411-0785, 411-0865 and 411-0889 concerning health care services. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-21-12;
— No. 411-0807 concerning veterans' affairs. — Sessional Paper No. 8545-411-89-01.

Presenting Reports from Interparliamentary Delegations
Pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), Ms. Moore (Abitibi—Témiscamingue) presented the report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the Joint visit of the Committee on Civil Dimension of Security and the Sub-Committee on East-West Economic Co-operation and Convergence, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from October 25 to 27, 2011. — Sessional Paper No. 8565-411-50-14.

Introduction of Private Members' Bills

Pursuant to Standing Orders 68(2) and 69(1), on motion of Ms. Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe), seconded by Ms. Perreault (Montcalm), Bill C-422, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (elimination of waiting period), 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, a take-note debate on the subject of the horrific state of human rights in Iran take place pursuant to Standing Order 53.1 on Monday, May 14, 2012, and that during the debate no quorum calls, dilatory motions or requests for unanimous consent shall be received by the Chair.


Presenting Petitions

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

— by Ms. Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe), one concerning aboriginal affairs (No. 411-1037) and one concerning the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (No. 411-1038);
— by Mr. Woodworth (Kitchener Centre), one concerning abortion (No. 411-1039);
— by Ms. Duncan (Etobicoke North), one concerning health care services (No. 411-1040);
— by Ms. Borg (Terrebonne—Blainville), one concerning the Katimavik program (No. 411-1041);
— by Mr. Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission), two concerning the Criminal Code of Canada (Nos. 411-1042 and 411-1043);
— by Ms. Laverdière (Laurier-Sainte-Marie), one concerning nuclear weapons (No. 411-1044) and one concerning Old Age Security benefits (No. 411-1045);
— by Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands), one concerning the democratic process (No. 411-1046) and one concerning China (No. 411-1047).

Questions on the Order Paper

Mr. Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) presented the answer to question Q-557 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-552 — Mr. Mai (Brossard—La Prairie) — With regard to tax evasion and its effects on the Canadian economy: (a) does the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) publish estimates of the tax gap caused by offshore tax avoidance, and, (i) if so, which method does the government utilize to calculate this gap, (ii) if not, why not; (b) what is the 10-year trend for (i) the number of transfer pricing audits, (ii) the budgeting for and Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staffing of auditors dealing with transfer pricing audit; (c) what is the amount of annual capital flow from Canada to the United States resulting from bilateral trade mispricing (i) per capital flow, (ii) by proportion of total trade, (iii) per tax loss; (d) what is the amount of annual capital flow from Canada to the European Union resulting from bilateral trade mispricing (i) per capital flow, (ii) by proportion of total trade, (iii) per tax loss; (e) what is the amount of annual capital flow resulting from multilateral trade mispricing (i) per capital flow, (ii) by proportion of total trade, (iii) per tax loss; (f) what are the internal deadlines set by the Exchange of Information (EOI) Services (CRA) as concerns responses to EOI requests received, (i) how many EOI requests received does the CRA deal with per year, (ii) what is the 10-year trend for EOI requests received by the CRA, (iii) what is the median response time for an EOI request received by the CRA, (iv) from which jurisdiction does the CRA receive the most EOI requests, (v) from which jurisdiction does the CRA request the most EOIs; (g) does Canada collaborate with its EOI partners to ensure the EOI provisions are not restricted, and, if so, (i) with which jurisdictions, (ii) to what specific ends, (iii) have there been any changes to the CRA approach as a result of these collaborations; (h) how prevalent are bearer shares in Canada, (i) what measures exist to ensure that ownership information is available with no exceptions, (ii) are all nominees obliged to maintain relevant ownership information when they act as legal owners on behalf of any other person, (iii) has the government studied the possibility of subjecting nominees to anti-money-laundering laws, and, if not, why not; (i) are credit card, ATM, and stored-value cards defined as monetary instruments in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act; (j) do law enforcement and customs services have, or has the government studied extending to them, card reading capacities aimed at catching suspected brief-case bankers; (k) how many Canadian financial institutions operate in lower tax jurisdictions and what are their names; (l) how many Canadian financial institutions engage in capital arbitrage by allocating capital to lower tax jurisdictions and thereby lowering their effective tax rate; (m) does the government calculate the effects of Canadian financial institutions operating in lower tax jurisdictions on (i) Canadian financial institutions tax rate, (ii) increases in after-tax earnings, (iii) net income; (n) what is the percentage of auditors and numbers of FTE auditors (i) working on individual tax evasion, (ii) working on corporate tax evasion, (iii) working on corporate transfer mispricing, (iv) what is the 10-year trend for the budgeting for and staffing of these auditors; and (o) what is the percentage of auditors and numbers of FTE auditors (i) auditing individuals using tax havens, (ii) auditing corporations using tax havens, (iii) what is the 10-year trend for the budgeting for and staffing of these auditors? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-411-552.

Q-553 — Mr. Mai (Brossard—La Prairie) — With regard to the government’s strategy for combating tax havens: (a) does the government plan to reform the arm’s-length principles under section 247 of the Income Tax Act; (b) has the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or any department studied the impact of replacing Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles with International Financial Reporting Standards in terms of (i) taxable impact, (ii) reporting, (iii) tax fraud; (c) has the government studied the possibility of requiring multinational corporations to report on a country-by-country basis on all their transactions, including, (i) labour costs and number of employees, (ii) finance costs, third-party and intra-group transactions, (iii) profits before taxes, (iv) provisions for taxes, (v) taxes actually paid; (d) has the government studied the possibility of providing disclosed information available within federal institutions to provincial Attorneys General for the purpose of civil forfeitures; (e) has the government studied the possibility of lengthening the detention-accountability regime found in section 490 of the Criminal Code; (f) has the government studied the possibility of modernizing the Canada Evidence Act; and (g) what will be the effect of cuts on the CRA auditor capacity to investigate offshore bank accounts and tax havens? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-411-553.

Q-554 — Mr. Cash (Davenport) — With regard to mortgage loan insurance provided by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC): (a) has the CMHC put in place an allocation plan for insuring mortgages, and, if so, what is the plan and does the plan prioritize mortgages according to whether or not they are required to be insured or according to the value of the mortgage; (b) does the CMHC intend to ask the government to increase the $600 billion limit on insured mortgages; and (c) what kind of risk mitigation or contingency plan does the CMHC have in case of a multi-year recession or other scenario in which the CMHC might have difficulty meeting its obligations for mortgage insurance payments? — Sessional Paper No. 8555-411-554.
Government Orders

The House resumed consideration of the motion of Mr. Flaherty (Minister of Finance), seconded by Mr. Oliver (Minister of Natural Resources), — That Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance;

And of the amendment of Ms. Nash (Parkdale—High Park), seconded by Mr. Caron (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques), — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:
(a) weakens Canadians’ confidence in the work of Parliament, decreases transparency and erodes fundamental democratic institutions by systematically over-concentrating power in the hands of government ministers;
(b) shields the government from criticism on extremely controversial non-budgetary issues by bundling them into one enormous piece of legislation masquerading as a budgetary bill;
(c) undermines the critical role played by such trusted oversight bodies as the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the CSIS Inspector General and the National Energy Board, amongst many others, thereby silencing institutional checks and balances to the government’s ideological agenda;
(d) raises the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67 years in a reckless effort to balance the government’s misguided spending on prisons, incompetent military procurement and inappropriate Ministerial expenses;
(e) includes provisions to gut the federal environmental assessment regime and to overhaul fish habitat protection that will adversely affect fragile ecosystems and Canada’s environmental sustainability for generations to come;
(f) calls into question Canada’s food inspection and public health regime by removing critical oversight powers of the Auditor General in relation to the Canada Food Inspection Agency all while providing an avenue and paving the way for opportunities to privatize a number of essential inspection functions; and
(g) does nothing to provide a solution for the growing number of Canadians looking for employment in Canada’s challenging job market and instead fuels further job loss, which according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer will amount to a total loss of 43,000 jobs in 2014.”.

The debate continued.

At 1:15 p.m., pursuant to Order made Thursday, May 3, 2012, under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), the Speaker interrupted the proceedings.

The question was put on the amendment and, the recorded division was deferred until Monday, May 14, 2012, at the ordinary time of daily adjournment.

Private Members' Business

At 1:18 p.m., by unanimous consent, the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business.

Mr. Galipeau (Ottawa—Orléans), seconded by Mr. Mayes (Okanagan—Shuswap), moved, — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) continue its dialogue with the provinces, territories, health stakeholders, industry and Canadians to promote and maintain healthy weight for children and youth; (b) encourage discussions to address the factors that lead to obesity, such as social and physical environments, physical activity, as well as the promotion of and access to nutritious food; (c) encourage individuals and organizations to commit to participating in the promotion of a healthy weight; and (d) consider the federal, provincial and territorial framework for action to promote healthy weight entitled “Curbing Childhood Obesity”, that resulted from the endorsement of the “Declaration on Prevention and Promotion” by the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health and Health promotion/Healthy Living, as the basis for action to address obesity, particularly in children, promoting physical activity and making healthy food choices. (Private Members' Business M-319)

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 Mr. Flaherty (Minister of Finance) — Report of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, pursuant to the Alternative Fuels Act, S.C. 1995, c. 20, s. 8. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-646-02. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development)
— by Mr. Paradis (Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)) — Report of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, together with the Auditors' Report, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, pursuant to the Patent Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-4, s. 26. — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-330-01. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology)
— by Mr. Toews (Minister of Public Safety) — Agreements for RCMP policing services (First Nations Community Policing Service) for the provinces of New Brunswick and British Columbia, and for the Yukon Territory, pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S. 1985, c. R-10, sbs. 20(5). — Sessional Paper No. 8560-411-475-45. (Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security)
Petitions Filed with the Clerk of the House

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, a petition certified correct by the Clerk of Petitions was filed as follows:

— by Ms. Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe), one concerning veterans' affairs (No. 411-1048).
Adjournment

At 2:19 p.m., the Speaker adjourned the House until Monday at 11:00 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).