Debates of May 8th, 2024

Committees of the House

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House resumed from May 3 consideration of the motion that Bill C-375, An Act to amend the Impact Assessment Act (federal-provincial agreements), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Impact Assessment Act

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-375 under Private Members' Business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #756

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I declare the motion defeated.

The House resumed from May 6 consideration of the motion.

Foreign Political Interference, Violence or Intimidation

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on Motion No. 112 under Private Members' Business in the name of the member for Surrey—Newton.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #757

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I declare the motion carried.

The House resumed from May 7 consideration of the motion that Bill C-270, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (pornographic material), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Stopping Internet Sexual Exploitation Act

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-270 under Private Members' Business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #758

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I declare the motion carried.

Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

Interparliamentary Delegations

[James Maloney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association's bilateral visit to the United Kingdom, including London, England, Cardiff, Wales, and Edinburgh, Scotland, from November 13 to 17, 2023.

I would like to add my thanks to all of the members who participated, but in particular to our clerk and other staff members who made the trip worthwhile and helped us tremendously.

Justice and Human Rights

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 23rd report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in relation to Bill C‑273, an act to amend the Criminal Code (Corinne's Quest and the protection of children).

The committee studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with an amendment.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 65th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees of the House. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 65th report later this day.

Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 20th report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in relation to the motion adopted on Monday, May 6, regarding the Canada disability benefit.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs

[John Aldag, Liberal, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. The first is the 13th report, entitled “Braiding Learning and Healing: A Pathway to Improving Graduation Rates and Successful Outcomes for Indigenous Students”, and second is the 14th report, entitled “'We Belong to the Land': The Restitution of Land to Indigenous Nations”.

I would like to thank all the witnesses and staff for their help with these two reports.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive report in response to each of these two reports.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 65th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay.

It is agreed.

The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

(Motion agreed to)

Firearms

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, these petitioners wish to present an issue to the House. They are seeking to support the health and safety of Canadian firearms owners.

The petitioners recognize the importance of owning firearms, but they are concerned about the impacts of hearing loss caused by the damaging noise levels of firearms and the need for noise reduction. They acknowledge that sound moderators are the only universally recognized health and safety device that is criminally prohibited in Canada. Moreover, the majority of G7 countries have recognized the health and safety benefits of sound moderators, allowing them for hunting, sport shooting and reducing noise pollution.

The petitioners are calling on the government to allow firearm owners the option to purchase and use sound moderators for all legal hunting and sport shooting activities.

First Responders Tax Credit

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a huge honour to table this petition on behalf of residents from Ucluelet, including fire chief Rick Geddes.

This petition was obviously done before the budget, but this is on behalf of 120,000 volunteer firefighters and 10,000 search and rescue volunteers who are calling on the federal government to increase the volunteer firefighter and search and rescue tax credit from $3,000 to $10,000. They did not quite get that $10,000, but it was doubled.

It is a privilege to table this petition, and I want to thank members from each party who tabled a petition in support of my bill, Bill C-310.

Health Care

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that I am honoured to present on behalf of folks who note that, first of all, Statistics Canada makes it clear that there are 4.8 million Canadians who do not have a regular doctor. The petitioners go on to note that this is a number that has remained stable over a number of years. It is even worse in rural communities, although it is quite bad in urban centres as well.

The petitioners have a very simple recommendation. They are calling on the House of Commons to ensure that the Government of Canada works with all provinces and territories across the country to come to a holistic and fair solution to Canada's family doctor shortage.

First Responders Tax Credit

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition on behalf of the good people of Hairy Hill in Lakeland. It calls on the government to increase the tax credits for volunteer firefighting and search and rescue services.

Volunteer firefighters make up about 71% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders, and approximately 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year. Most rural communities and regions, like those all across Lakeland, completely rely on local volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers.

Those essential volunteers put their lives on the line and sacrifice their time, training and heroism on behalf of their fellow Canadians and allow cities and municipalities to keep property taxes lower than paid services. Increasing the tax credit would allow those essential volunteers to keep more of their hard-earned money in the communities where they live and would help retain volunteers at a time when volunteerism is decreasing.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-310, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, to increase the amount of the tax credit for volunteer firefighting and search and rescue volunteer services.