In his opinion, would it be a good idea to include on this committee representatives of the other parties in the House, such as the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party?

Dany Morin: Mr. Speaker, my colleague from the Green Party raises a good point.

The membership of the special committee is based on the usual membership of all the other committees. I wanted to make sure that this motion was adopted, so I kept the membership the same as that of a regular committee.

However, if a special committee is set up, I can assure the hon. members who are not represented on that committee that I will contact them so that their opinions are heard. The point is for the entire House of Commons to be non-partisan.

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Hon. Peter Van Loan: Mr. Speaker, I ask for the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, the remainder of the debate, pursuant to Standing Order 66, on the motion to concur in the First Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, presented on Wednesday, October 19, 2011, be deemed to have taken place and the motion be deemed agreed to on division.

The Speaker: Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

The Speaker: The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

On a point of order, the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I am not going to block this motion and I wish to give my consent, but I want to register that I am very unhappy that although I tried to speak to this issue, there just was not time in debate. However, I do not want to hold up the House, so I will consent.

The Speaker: Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House for this motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

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The Liberals will join forces with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to introduce amendments that could delay the passage of the Conservative government’s omnibus budget bill and another piece of legislation that would change Canada’s refugee system.

“We very clearly indicated that we are the real opposition here because we found that the best way to deal with this is to work with other parties, in this particular case with the Green Party,” Liberal House Leader Marc Garneau told reporters Monday morning after the House of Commons returned from a week-long break.

Because the Greens do not have official party status, Ms. May is not given a seat on parliamentary committees. As a trade-off, she is permitted to propose substantive amendments to bills that have come back to the House after the committees have completed their study – an option that is not open to MPs who are part of a recognized party.

View the full original article >>

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The mainstream media is marking its report cards for the one-year anniversary under Harper Conservative majority rule. The bromides are calming—the Globe and Mail editorial gives the Conservative majority a positive spin—“more ups than downs”—while its reporter, John Ibbitson, wrote a piece nearly oozing with reverence for the prime minister.

It is clear we all have our biases. I only entered politics back in 2006 because I feared what a Harper minority government would do to decades of environmental law and policy. I have been very critical of the cuts to climate science, retreat from Kyoto commitments, and sabotage of climate negotiations internationally since 2006. But with that bias out in the open, I believe the last year has been the most devastating in Canadian history for parliamentary democracy, for charter rights, to collective bargaining and trade union rights, for evidence-based public policy, and for environmental law and protection. And, of course, the damage to climate policy was accelerated.

Here’s the evidence:

1. Abuse of democracy: Every piece of government legislation introduced since the election has had time allocation applied to limit debate, smashing through historical records. Parliamentary committees have been meeting increasingly in secret. Omnibus legislation, forcing massive legislative changes through one bill, has been used, further depriving Parliament of adequate time to analyze and improve legislation. The auditor general’s report on the F-35 issue makes it clear that Parliament was not given accurate information about the cost of the fighter jets, even after the true cost was known within cabinet. No need to detail here the simmering scandal of electoral fraud and robocalls.
2. Charter rights: The omnibus crime bill included nine separate pieces of legislation. Many sections involving mandatory minimum sentences arguably violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As well, the new refugee law, C-31, will require political refugee claimants arriving by boat (or anything the minister deems as “irregular entry”) to face automatic internment for up to a year without access to judicial review. This will include children between 16 and 18.
3. Collective bargaining: The intervention by the federal Parliament into Air Canada labour disputes (twice) and Canada Post’s lock-out of its workers undermines labour rights. So, too, does the Conservative party-supported private member’s bill to impose more financial transparency on labour unions than on other professional groupings, such as law societies.
4. Control of information: The Harper majority government has been the most closed and non-transparent in history. The number of people working in the Prime Minister’s Office has expanded, with its now over $10 million per year budget. Most of the PMO staff are described as “information officers”. Their job is to block access to information. No public servants or government scientists can speak to the media without permission; neither can they speak to MPs.
5. Evidence-free decision making: Once again the omnibus crime bill must be mentioned. A “tough on crime” agenda was unhinged from the reality of falling crime rates. No amount of evidence from criminologists that mandatory minimums do not reduce crime rates, nor that it was unwise to pass the bill without estimates for the cost of new prisons, made a dent in the Conservative majority mantra that any opposition MP who objected was siding with criminals and showed no concern for victims. The budgetary cuts are now disproportionately targeting Statistics Canada. Who can deny that the Harper brand of Conservatism is an evidence-free zone?
6. Assault on the natural world: The gloves are off. Harper and company have taken aim at environmental groups and First Nations opposed to the Enbridge supertanker scheme calling them “radicals” and labelling MPs who oppose the project as “against Canada”. While selling out our resources to China, without national security checks, Stephen Harper has promised Beijing the Enbridge project will proceed. In order to achieve this goal, come hell or high water, environmental laws are being eviscerated. And the sweeping changes are concealed in C-38, the budget implementation bill. The National Energy Board will now have jurisdiction over endangered species and navigable waters, if they occur in the way of any proposed pipeline. Meanwhile, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is repealed (under C-38) with an entirely new approach to replace it. The new law will restrict the study of impacts of major projects to areas “under the legislative authority of Parliament”—confined to fish and migratory birds. Where, in the past, an environmental review at the federal level was the most rigorous and comprehensive, new federal reviews would be a joke by Third World standards. The removal of habitat protection under the Fisheries Act is also part of the budget bill. So too, repealing the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act and the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy Act. Meanwhile, $8 million has been freed up to harass environmental charities.

Canadians must not remain silent. It is not only one area of public policy or one ecosystem that is threatened. Canada, our values and our traditions, are at risk.

Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada and the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

Originally published in the Georgia Straight.

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Meanwhile, let us compare and contrast. Bill C-36, which we are debating today, is three paragraphs. Bill C-38 is 420 pages of omnibus abuse of parliamentary process, pushing changes to environmental laws which will never go before an environment committee and never go before a fisheries committee.

I ask the Prime Minister to separate out bills that matter to the environment so the appropriate committees can deal with them.

Michelle Rempel: Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague opposite that what is included in the budget implementation act is reviewed through the finance committee. As we said earlier, this will be reviewed through a subcommittee at finance.

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By putting all this in the Budget Implementation (Bill C-38) means that none of the environmental laws being changed will ever go to Environment committee or hear from environmental experts. Nine environmental laws are changed. (I can’t think of any environmental law that isn’t touched.)

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) gets the biggest wallop. (P. 31-98).

The Act is repealed. It is entirely replaced (a 79 page Act shrinks to a 40 page Act). It creates a new scheme for review. The scope is incredibly narrow — only those elements of environment under “legislative authority of Parliament” are assessed — so “environmental effects” defined as fish, aquatic species, and migratory birds. No other species or ecosystems, nor health, socio-economic, physical or cultural heritage and other elements in current definition of “environmental effects.”

The Agency will, on receiving a complete application, within 45 days decide if ANY environmental assessment is required.

Environmental reviews are no longer required for projects involving federal money. Very large levels of discretion to Minister to decide if there should be a panel.

The largest problem, as expected, is the new equivalency rules — agreements with any province to leave Environmental Assessment to them.

There are also retroactive sections, setting the clock at July 2010 for existing projects.

Fisheries Act also guts previous habitat provisions. (P 149) and identifies the important fish as “commercial, Aboriginal and recreational” and the fish that support that fishery. The biggest problem is the creation of equivalency so that the Act and its regs “do not apply in the province.”

The National Energy Board (NEB) absorbs the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) whenever a pipeline crosses navigable waters. And the NWPA is amended to say a pipeline is not a “work” within that Act. The NEB Act is also amended to (as expected) put Cabinet in a superior position to over-rule its decisions.

The Species at Risk Act (SARA) is also amended to allow the NEB to permit activities that kill or harm endangered species (p.181).

The charities sections now preclude “gift the making of which is a political activity.”(P. 6) Foreign charities can only provide funds to Canadian charities if the Minister is satisfied the foreign organization is “carrying on relief activities in response to a disaster, providing urgent humanitarian aid, or carrying on activities in the national interest of Canada.”

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The Standing Committee on Official Languages continued its Evaluation of the Roadmap: Improving Programs and Service Distribution this week. On Tuesday, the committee listened to testimonies from la Fédération Franco-ténoise, l’Association des Francophones du Nunavut (website in French only), l’Association des francophones de Terre-Neuve et Labrador (French only), and the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities. NDP MPs Robert Aubin and Dan Harris have been replaced with the MPs Pierre Dionne Labelle and Tyrone Benskin.

Thursday’s meeting followed the same pattern as previous meetings. On the panel for Thursday were representatives from Concordia University, the Regional Association of West Quebecers, the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation and la Société Nationale de l’Acadie. All the organisations recommended the renewal of the Roadmap.

Cette semaine, le comité a continué l’Évaluation de la feuille de Route : Amélioration des Programs et la Prestation des Services. Le comité a écouté les témoignages de quatre organismes; la Fédération Franco-ténoise, l’Association des Francophones du Nunavut, l’Association des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et Labrador et l’Institut Canadien de la Recherche sur les Minorités Linguistiques. Les députés du NPD Robert Aubin et Dan Harris a été remplacé par les députés Pierre Dionne Labelle et Tyrone Benskin.

Jeudi, on a eu quatre différentes organismes faire des témoignages. L’Université de Concordia, l’Association Régionale des West Quebecers (site web en anglais seulement), la Corporation d’Employabilité et de Développement Économique Communautaire et la Société Nationale de l’Acadie. Les séances suivaient le même pattern que ces-uns précédents. Les organismes ont tous recommandé le renouvellement de la Feuille de Route.

The committee met twice this week to study Bill C-304, An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (protecting freedom). The bill repeals section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which is alleged to erode the right of freedom of expression.

On Tuesday, April 24^th, the committee heard from the bill’s sponsor, Mr. Brian Storseth (), who gave an opening statement and answered questions. A second panel followed that included Mark Toews and Judy Hunter of the Canadian Bar Association; Mark Freiman of the Canadian Peres Center for Peace Foundation; and Kathleen Mahoney of Calgary University. Each witness was critical of the bill, but none more so than the representatives of the CBA, who came prepared with a comprehensive submission on the bill drafted by the organization’s Constitutional and Human Rights Law section. The debate between the CBA and Conservative members of the committee was often heated. The relevant transcript can be found here.

On Thursday, March 26^th, the committee heard from representatives of B’nai Brith Canada, who expressed their support for Bill C-304. The committee then proceeded to commence clause-by-clause study of the bill. The amendments offered by Liberal Sean Casey were rejected and a single amendment offered by Conservative MP Robert Goguen() was ruled out of order by Conservative chair Dave Mackenzie (). The latter was ultimately passed through an appeal of the chair’s decision made by Goguen and supported by the NDP. The sole member to vote against the appeal was Mr. Casey (See the Minutes here. ) It was ordered that the bill be reported as amended to the House.

Before adjourning the meeting for the day, the committee sat in camera to discuss matters related to committee business.

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Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM)

The committee met once this week to hear Minister Jason Kenney discuss the main estimates for the fiscal year 2012 – 2013.

On Tuesday (March 27^th), the Committee heard testimony from Minister Kenney that the main priority for his department during the last fiscal year was to eliminate the backlog of applications in the immigration system and the priority for the following year will be to introduce the biometrics program for all temporary resident visa applicants to ensure the continued integrity of our immigration system.

In the following weeks, the Committee will continue their study of enhancing security within Canada’s immigration system.

This week, the committee discussed the development of a National Conservation Plan.  During in the in-camera potion of the meeting, the committee issued a news release calling for public participation in relation to study regarding the development of a national conservation plan.

In the public portion of the meeting, witnesses each outlined their recommendations for the National Conservation Plan.  All witnesses advocated for conservation at large-scale; the importance of connecting and consulting with landowners, impacted parties, and First Nations; a commitment to long-term funding; and incorporating the Aichi Targets from the Convention on Biological Diversity into any conservation plan.

It was recognized that a national conservation plan must take into consideration Canada’s diverse geography as well as its unique regional social, economic, and political perspectives.

On March 28th, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) met in camera to pursue committee business.

It was agreed that the Committee start hearing witnesses from Federal Departments on the study on invasive species that pose a threat to the Great Lakes system, starting on Monday, April 2, 2012, and that Members should send in their list of potential witnesses to the Clerk

The in camera minutes of the meeting may be viewed here.

On March 26th, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) met in camera to commence consideration of a draft report.

They then resumed in public to vote on two motions. Both votes were negatived 6 to 5.

The decisions made in public and in camera can be viewed in the Minutes.

Both meetings this week were only one hour and only heard from one witness. On the 28^th the committee went in camera to discuss committee business with the extra hour. On March 26^th, the committee met with Carlo Dade, Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa. He spoke to the committee about the value he has seen in private-public partnerships in the development of countries. Mr. Dade viewed the current partnerships positively and noted that it was extremely difficult for smaller companies to enter into the same types of arrangements with CIDA due to their lack of influence. He also spoke about the importance of diaspora communities and remittances in funding developing countries. Mr. Dade spoke very highly of such efforts and suggested that Canada spend more to study the effects and scale of diaspora communities within Canada.

On March 28^th, the committee met with Dr. Sabrine Luning from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands via teleconference. Like many witnesses who have testified before committee recently she also spoke about the dangers of public private partnerships in blurring the line between local government responsibility and the role of the mining companies. Dr. Luning especially stressed how important it was for local governments and non-governmental organizations to take an active role in development goals, rather than leaving them to mining companies alone. After hearing from Dr. Luning the committee moved in camera to discuss the future business of the committee.

On March 26th, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) met pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) to study the motion adopted by the Committee on February 15, 2012. They also resumed the study of Fixing the Skills Gap: Addressing Existing Labour Shortages in High Demand Occupations and Understanding Labour Shortages: Addressing Barriers to Filling Low-Skilled Jobs.

The Minutes for the meeting can be found here.

On Wednesday, March 28^th, the committee met in camera  to discuss matters of committee business. It was decided that in relation to the study of Fixing the Skills Gap: Addressing Existing Labour Shortages in High Demand Occupations and Understanding Labour Shortages: Addressing Barriers to Filling Low-Skilled Jobs, the Committee would propose a budget of $76,403. This would cover expenses for the Committee’s trip to Vancouver; British Columbia, Whitehorse; Yukon, Calgary; Alberta, Fort McMurray, and Estevan; Saskatchewan. At 3:45 p.m. the meeting resumed in public to continue its study, and heard witness statements. The Committee then adjourned.

This week the Health committee began its examination of the role of government and industry in determining drug supply in Canada.  Drug shortages have increased by over 4 times the amount in 2006.  The government held an emergency debate in the House to determine what to do about this issue. 

On Tuesday , Pharmaceutical Associations stated that the reasons for the drug shortages are two-fold.  The first is that most contracts are only with a single supplier and therefore, when the supplier has an issue, shortages inevitably result.  The second issue is that the competitive market leads to decreased prices of drugs and is causing companies to leave the market because the companies are no longer competitive. 

On Thursday, medical coalitions and associations provided a different perspective.  They urged the federal government to take a role on this issue.  The federal government said that health care is a provincial matter and there is nothing they can do.  The opposition slammed the government for putting all the pressure on provinces by refusing to provide any support outside of transfers.

The Committee met twice this week, on March 27^th and 29^th, 2012, to discuss a free trade agreement with the Kingdom of Jordan. Witnesses included the Ambassador to Jordan who testified that a trade agreement with Jordan is in Canada’s best interests. The Committee has been studying the possibility of a free trade agreement for a few weeks now to gain a full understanding of how Canada and Jordan can strive with a collective agreement.

The Justice committee met twice this week to pursue its study of Bill C-217, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (mischief relating to war memorials).

On Tuesday, the committee heard from David Tilson, M.P, the sponsor of the bill.; John Eggenberger , Vice-President of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association; Earl Page, veteran; and Terence Whitty of the Army Cadet League of Canada. All witnesses save one (Mr. Whitty) supported the means through the bill attempts to deter crimes committed with respect to war memorials and cenotaphs, namely, through the imposition of a thousand dollar fine and subsequent mandatory minimums of 60 and 90 days for second- and –third-time offences. After questioning the witnesses, the committee suspended and resumed sitting to pursue committee business related to budgetary expenses, and resumed consideration of the Main Estimates for 2012-2013. The Minutes can be found here.

On Thursday, the committee heard from Catherine Latimer of the John Howard Society and Leonard S. Russomanno, Criminal Defence Counsel, Webber Schroeder Goldstein Abergel. Both witnesses were heavily critical of the bill. The committee then commenced clause-by-clause study of the bill and adjourned to the call of the chair. The Minutes detailing the amendments advanced by the NDP and the Conservatives can be found here.

This week, the committee continued its Evaluation of the Roadmap: Improving Programs and Service Distribution. During the first meeting of the week, committee members heard testimonies from  two government agencies, the Ministry of Public Works and Government Services and the Federal Agency for the Economic Development of Southern Ontario, and two non-government agencies: Canadian Parents for French and Canadian Youth for French. The founder and Director of Canadian Youth for French, Justin Morrow, made a particularly touching presentation, as he explained to the committee his personal motivations for creating the organization. All the testimonies were interesting and informative. The Ministry of Public works reported that Canada’s federal government has the second largest translation bureau in the world and showed the committee a website they created to assist teachers and students, called the Language Portal of Canada.

Thursday the committee members again heard testimonies from four organizations, divided into two groups. For the first hour, committee members listened to representatives from the Association Canadienne d’Éducation du Langue Française and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation. These groups provide pedagogic material for teachers. ACÉLF also organises exchanges for FLS students to go live in francophone communities and practice their French. In the second half of the meeting, the Canadian Association of Immersion Teachers (website in French only) and the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers made their testimonies. These organisations work to promote bilingualism and provide resources for teachers and students. As with previous groups, these two organisations are working to promote the use of French outside of the classroom.

Cette semaine, le comité a continué l’Évaluation de la Feuille de Route : Amélioration des Programmes et de la Prestation des Services. Mardi, les membres du comité ont écouté les témoignages de quatre différents organismes. En premier, on avait le Ministère des Travaux Publics et Services Gouvernementaux, suivi par l’Agence Fédéral de Développement Économique pour le Sud de l’Ontario. Ensuite, Canadian Parents for French et Canadian Youth for French ont fait leurs témoignages aussi. Tous les témoignages étaient intéressants et instructives. Le bureau de la traduction fédérale est le deuxième plus grande au monde. Les représentants du ministère des travaux publics ont montré un site web, appeler le « portail, » qu’ils ont créé pour aider les étudiantes et étudiants.

Jeudi, on avait quatre autres organismes faire des témoignages. L’Association Canadienne d’Éducation de la Langue Française et le Fédération Canadienne des Enseignantes et Enseignants on présenté en premier. Dans la deuxième partie de la réunion, les membres des comités ont écouté les témoignages de l’Association Canadienne des Professeurs d’Immersion et l’Association Canadienne des Professeurs de Langue Seconde. Tous ces organismes fourni des matériaux pédagogique pour aider les enseignantes et enseignants et veulent promouvoir l’usage de la français hors de l’école (parmi les étudiant(e)s en particulier.

The Committee met this week on March 29^th, in a highly publicized manner to discuss issues of robocalling that occurred in the 41^st election. Marc Mayrand, the Director of Elections Canada, gave a presentation to the Committee focused on how the Commissioner will conduct an investigation into the robocall allegations. It was discovered that 800 case files have been opened for 200 ridings.

This was a special topic for the Committee and will be addressed again in future committees. Mr. Mayrand and the Commissioner have been invited back to the committee for June when there will be more information to report.

The committee met only once this week to continue their discussion of the delivery of front-line health and wellbeing services for Canadian veterans. The committee welcomed witnesses from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) via videoconferencing. Witnesses from various centers within the department gave an overview of the various services they offer and then answered committee members’ questions. 

The United States DVA offers services to some 20 million veterans and the department’s budget has grown for the past few years.

Of special note to committee members were the type of services that had no Canadian equivalent. For instance, the DVA utilizes mobile vet centres to provide early access and continuous services to veterans especially those who live in more remote areas. They also use mobile units to reach their homeless veteran population, providing them with toiletries, dental and medical evaluations and information on various DVA programs.

Committee members were also interested in the transition processes between the DND and the DVA, an area that various stakeholders in Canada believe needs improvements. The opposition committee members inquired about the direction of service delivery and the decision in the US to exempt the DVA from budget cuts. Witnesses explained that their various branches are focusing on providing more comprehensive and efficient services to their veterans and their growing budget is an indicator of such efforts.

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Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (AANO)

The committee began this week by discussing the main and supplementary estimates in order to vote on them. The Minister presented an update on the department, citing commitments to pursuing improvements to First Nations education, better lands management, and reliable access to clean water. Members of the government asked the Minister to expand on some specific developments, whereas members of the opposition posed questions regarding budget reductions, which the Minister and Deputy Minister characterized as due to programs that had recently finished and no longer required funding.

The second meeting of the week was a continuation of the study of land use and sustainable development. Three different groups, representing a range of perspectives, gave witness, including delegates from the Office of the Auditor General, the National Aboriginal Forestry Association, and the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association. They stated, respectively, that the federal government (through HRSDC and AANDC) had failed to sufficiently foster and support training programs and economic development; that the aboriginal forestry sector must be better enabled to fully realize its potential production capacity, in turn creating prospects for aboriginal youth; and that increased funding arrangements with the private sector were necessary in order to expand Small and Medium Enterprise loans for aboriginal entrepreneurs. Committee members showed broad support for the recommendations of each group, seeing value in all proposals.

The committee reviewed its expenditure plans for the Department of Environment.  The Honourable Peter Kent presented the estimates to the committee.  He outlined several new initiatives, including the oil sand monitoring program, the development of performance standards for coal-fired power plants, and an increase in funding for weather and warning services.  Opposition members expressed concern that the focus on economic recovery and efficiency would result in reduced funding for aboriginal consultations under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the dismantling of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Lab.

On March 12^th the committee met with Wendy Hannam, an Executive Vice-President with ScotiaBank on the topic of their corporate social responsibility and development practices in their international operations. In the second half of the committee, the Hon. John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Hon. Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) appeared before the committee regarding the changes in the budget for DFAIT. There was little discussion on that topic however, mostly the questions focused on DFAIT’s handling of issues that have been in the news in the past 6 months. The full transcript can be found here.

On March 14^th the committee met with Doris Olafsen, Executive Vice-President of Opportunity International Canada, Larry Reed the Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign and Keith Weaver of MicroEnsure. Of particular interest was MicroEnsure which is a company that arranges Micro-Insurance opportunities with local insurance companies for individuals who would not traditionally be able to buy insurance due to the small size of their enterprises. The other main topic of conversation was what micro-credit organizations can do to prevent some of the potential negative impacts of loans on their recipients. Also appearing before the committee was Hon. Bev Oda, Minister of International Cooperation. The primary line of questioning for opposition MPs was focused on CIDA’s selection process for their contracts and grants which has changed a great deal recently. The minister also answered questions regarding CIDA’s grants to public/private partnerships between mining companies and NGOs in the developing world.

This week the Committee met in Centre Block to hear from and question Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz about the Main Estimates for 2011-12 and the Supplementary Estimates for 2012-13. The Committee also asked questions of public servants from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-food as well as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with regard to the estimates.

The Minister had to answer some difficult questions regarding the governmentʼs plan for supply management. During negotiations in New York, Trade Minister Fast suggested that Canada might be willing to abandon supply management in order to take part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as a delegate. Minister Ritz defended his governmentʼs record on protecting supply management, and even went as far to say that the Conservative Party was the only party to run the 2011 campaign on a platform of defending supply managed industries. His response was that each country in negotiations starts with everything on the discussion table, then will remove sensitive policy areas from the discussions later on.

At the end of this Committee meeting, the chair, Larry Miller introduced motions 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 under Agriculture and Agri-food in the Main Estimates. Each motion was carried unanimously by the Committee.

On Wednesday, the Committee met in its usual location to resume its overview of the supply chain. The Committee was met by representatives from the Department of Agriculture and the CFIA. Most of the discussion time was spent on describing the Departmentʼs Value Chain Roundtables, and the multistakeholder process these VCRTs undertake.

This week the committee continued its Evaluation of the Roadmap: Improving Programs and Service Distribution. Tuesday, committee members had a quick vote to pass their annual budget before hearing testimonies from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. Thursday the committee listened to testimonies from representatives of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. As with previous witnesses, the representatives made short presentations on initiatives to protect official languages in minority situations. Often these included meeting with community and business leaders and providing support for minority official language communities.

Cette semaine, le comité a continué l’Évaluation de la Feuille de Route : Amélioration des Programmes et de la Prestation des Services.  Mardi, les membres du comité ont approuvé unanimement le budget du comité et ils ont écouté les témoignages de l’Agence de Promotion Économique du Canada Atlantique et de la Ministère de la Citoyenneté et d’Immigration. Jeudi, le comité écoutait le témoignage des représentants du Bureau de la Commissariat  aux Langues Officielles. Les témoignages suivaient la même paterne que ces-uns des séances précédents; les représentants ont présenté sur leurs initiatives pour protéger les langues officiels en situation minoritaire. Souvent, ces initiatives incluaient des rendez-vous avec des leaders des communautés et des businesses et aussi de soutien pour les communautés des langues officiels minoritaires.

On March 12th, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) met pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) to review the motion adopted by the Committee on February 15, 2012. They also commenced study of Fixing the Skills Gap: Addressing Existing Labour Shortages in High Demand Occupations and Understanding Labour Shortages: Addressing Barriers to Filling Low-Skilled Jobs.

The in camera minutes may be viewed here.

On the week of March 5^th, 2012, the committee met two times to put to vote the Department’s Main and Supplementary Estimates. On the second day the committee resumed with its regular investigation of the front-line health and wellbeing services offered to veterans.

In the first meeting, Minister Steven Blaney presented on the department’s various programs and answered questions on department’s plan on adjusting to budget cuts. The minister assured the opposition that budget cuts will only affect the administrative costs of the department and not the extent or quality of services that VAC offers. The Cutting Red Tape for Veterans initiative is intended to mainly rely on retirements and modernization of services in reducing costs. The Main and Supplementary Estimates were passed without the oppositions’ support.

In the second meeting, the motion put forward by Irene Mathyssen to remove fellow MP Rob Anders from the committee was announced out of order by the chair, Greg Kerr.

In addition, the committee received Guy Parent, Veterans Ombudsman Chief Warrant Officer, who presented the committee with three recommendations. The first encouraged the committee members to advocate for exemption of the VAC from budget cuts, as is the case in the UK and US. Second, he encouraged the committee to consider reducing the number of categories that veterans are assigned to in order to ensure fair treatment of all veterans. Lastly, the Ombudsman recommended a universal ID card, shared by the Department of National Defense and Veteran’s Affair Canada, in order to make transition between the two departments and service delivery smoother.

The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights met twice this week.

On Tuesday, 13 March, the committee commenced consideration of the Main Estimates 2012-13: Votes 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 50 under JUSTICE referred to the Committee on Tuesday, February 28, 2012. The Hon. Rob Nicholson, PC, MP, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada gave a statement and answered questions. The Minister noted that the Department of Justice requested $694.6 million through the Main Estimates tabled in February for the year 2012-13. The Minister brought attention to a number of programs that would be ‘sunsetting’ at the end of March. Among these, the National Anti-Drug Strategy will see a funding decrease of $130, 000 in funding from Health Canada, and a funding portion of $12.3 million per year allocated to the Aboriginal Health Strategy is under consideration for renewal in the upcoming fiscal year.

For the complete record of the Minister’s statement, please see the Evidence for the meeting.

Before adjourning to the call of the Chair, the committee went in camera in order to dispose of its study on organized crime. It was agreed that the draft report as amended be presented to the House with any dissenting or supplementary opinions attached. See the Minutes here.

On Thursday, March 15^th, the committee commenced consideration of bill C-310, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in persons). The committee commenced and disposed of clause-by-clause study of the bill.

The Committee met twice this week on March 13^th and March 15^th, 2012. The March 13^th meeting focused on studying Main Estimates. The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, presented to the committee a report focusing on the importance of trade with current and emerging markets. He expressed that International Trade will remain the backbone of Canada’s economy, further indicating the focus and goals of this Conservative government.

On the 15^th, the topic of the committee continued their study of Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The committees focus was on human rights and child labour laws as well as tariffs on beef products.

The committee continued its study of how to best improve the integrity of the Canadian immigration system.

On Tuesday (March 13^th), Minister Kenney made an appearance at the committee to thank the members for their study of how to eliminate the current backlog of applications in the immigration system and to outline his department’s focus for the upcoming fiscal year including the introduction of biometrics in processing all visa applications, the need to prevent inadmissible individuals from entering Canada, and most importantly, the need for Canada to find talented individuals who will be able to integrate into the labour market to offset the shortage created by our aging population.

On Thursday (March 15^th), the committee heard testimony from health experts on the potential risks immigrants pose to public health in Canada and whether the medical screening currently required by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration are meeting the intended objectives. The committee then heard testimony from the World Sikh Organization of Canada on the problematic admission of war criminals into Canada due to international political and diplomatic pressures as well as the importance of avoiding racial and religious profiling in Canada’s new security measures. Lastly, the committee heard testimony from the Centre of Excellence in Security, Resilience, and Intelligence on the need to build a robust intelligence framework to support the use of biometrics and Canada’s current vulnerabilities in our weak domain/situational awareness.

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Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agrifood (AGRI)

This week the Committee finished its study of Growing Forward 2, and met in camera on Monday March 5th. The Committee decided to invite Minister of Agriculture and Agrifood, Gerry Ritz, to address the Committee in reference to the Supplementary Estimates 2011-2012, and the Main Estimates 2012-2013. The meeting will occur in Centre Block on Monday March 12th at 3:30pm.

Following this discussion, the Committee allocated a budget of $37, 700.00 to undertake a study on the food supply chain.

The study commenced on Wednesday March 7th, but the Committee only heard from two of the slated witnesses, and the meeting was dissolved for votes in the House of Commons. The Standing Committee did not resume following these votes, and will continue its study of the food supply chain on Wednesday March 14th.

The committee met twice this week, in camera.

On March 6^th, the committee resumed consideration of a draft report on the statutory review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The committee agreed that the report be adopted as amended and it was ordered that the chair present the report to the house. Interestingly, it was also agreed

That the Committee append to its report supplementary and/or dissenting opinions from members of the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party provided that they be no more than five (5) pages in length and submitted electronically to the Clerk of the Committee in both official languages, no later than Friday, March 9, 2012, at 12:00 p.m. (noon).

Although it remains to be seen what recommendations are tabled in the report, many critics fear that the government intends to gut the Act of its federal environmental assessment requirements to pave the way for a less regulated neoliberal model of economic development. The committee’s review of the Act was abruptly terminated in late November before many groups had a chance to appear before the committee.

For a critical view of these developments, click here.

On March 8^th,  the committee began a study on a National Conservation Plan for Canada. The committee witnesses were Michael Keenan, Assistant Deputy Minister in Environment Canada, Robert McLean from the Habitat and Ecosystem Conservation division, and Mike Wong from Parks Canada. The committee outlined key issues that will need to be addressed in the study including guiding principles, areas of focus, outcome metrics, specific programs, and implementation strategies.  Parks Canada and Environment Canada witnesses provided the committee with updates regarding Canada’s progress on its conservation commitments and the committee also compiled a list of the different groups from which to call witnesses for the upcoming study. These groups include aboriginal groups, industry, ENGOs, conservation groups, anglers and hunters, academics and experts, and all levels of government.

This week the House Standing Committee on Finance split its time between a clause by clause consideration of bill C-25, which enacts legislation for the creation of Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPP’s), and opening its discussion on bill S-5. The committee has been examining PRPP’s for the last 5 meetings and this week members voted on the individual clauses of the bill and proposed amendments. While the government chose to take one of the opposition questions regarding the legal status of tax-exempted income for Aboriginals under consideration, the government voted down all the amendments offered by the opposition.  The bill ended up being supported by the government, with the NDP opposing the bill and the Liberals abstaining. The committee reported the bill back to the house the day after the meeting.

On Thursday, the committee turned its attention to bill S-5, commonly referred to as the Financial Systems Review Act, which the government described as a mostly technical bill dealing with upgrades to certain Acts that govern the regulation of financial institutions.  The bill was referred to the committee after its second reading in the House of Commons and was already introduced and passed by the Senate. The bill is divided into six sections: the first 4 sections make amendments to the Bank Act, the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, the Insurance Companies Act and the Trust and Loan Companies Act.  Section 5 makes amendments to other acts that govern the Bank of Canada, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), amongst others. The bill would remove duplicative disclosure requirements for foreign customers of insurance companies, would give the final say to the Minister of Finance regarding large foreign acquisitions by Canadian banks, increase the fines that the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada can levy on misbehaving institutions, and increase the numerical size of the ownership threshold on the biggest banks in Canada.  Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies appeared before the committee to introduce the legislation and answer questions from committee members.  Later on, representatives from the Canadian Bankers Association, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, OFSI and FCAC testified about the importance of passing the bill. Questions from committee members focused on the level of consultation with industry representatives the Department of Finance took when drafting the bill and the need for the continued regulation of the financial sector in Canada.

For more information on Bill C-25:

http://www.fin.gc.ca/n11/11-119-eng.asp

For more information on Bill S-5

http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/LegislativeSummaries/bills_ls.asp?source=library_prb&ls=S5&Parl=41&Ses=1&Language=E&Mode=1

On March 5th, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) met in camera to resume study of the motion adopted by the Committee on September 29, 2011. They also resumed the study of A Framework for Success: Practical Recommendations to Further Shorten the Foreign Qualification Recognition Process. The Minutes may be viewed here.

On March 7^th, the committee met again in camera to deal consider matters of committee business. The minutes can be found here.

Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST)

The committee met twice this week. Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Thursday, 15 December, 2011, the committee resumed consideration of Bill C-26, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (citizen’s arrest and the defences of property and persons).

On Tuesday, March 6^th, the committee heard from justice officials Catherine Kane and Joanne Klineberg. Joanne Klineberg spoke to the bill and addressed concerns raised by witnesses concerning provisions in the bill. The two officials then fielded questions from MPS.

On Thursday, March 8^th, the committee commenced and completed its clause-by-clause study of the bill. Most amendments were either voted down or withdrawn after further scrutiny, although two NDP amendments and one Liberal amendment were surprisingly carried. After completion of the clause-by-clause study it was ordered that the Chair report the bill back to the House and that the bill as amended be reprinted for the use of the House at report stage.

To see which amendments were passed, see the minutes for the meeting.

The Committee met twice this week on March 6^th and March 8^th, 2012. The March 6^th meeting was a continuation of the study on the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS). Witnesses from the aerospace industry gave presentations explaining how the TCS has been an important service for their respective businesses. There was a also a witness representing the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada who presented to the committee the importance of the TCS to Canada trading with China. This was the committee’s last day studying the TCS.

On the 8^th, the topic of the committee was on Bill C-23, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The committees focus was on the Environment and Labour Cooperation agreements Canada has signed with Jordan.

This week the committee met with a wide variety of Ukrainian specialists on the issue of Ukraine’s eroding democratic and political institutions. Witnesses included academics, members of Ukrainian Parliament, Ukrainian NGO leaders and leaders of Ukrainian diaspora organizations in Canada. The primary concerns of the witnesses were issues with the current government of Viktor Yanukovych, the leader overthrown in the Orange revolution in 2006, who regained power in 2010. Mr. Yanukovych has done a great deal to erode the democracy of Ukraine by taking a large number of political prisoners, including the previous president of the country, Yulia Tymoshenko. This has caused problems for Ukraine internationally and has resulted in the country being downgraded from “Free” to “Partially Free” by Freedom Watch. The result has been that the European Union has become more hesitant to engage in trade and political agreements with the Ukraine due to the political situation.

There were also suggestions regarding how Canada could help the situation. CIDA is currently providing funds of civil society groups in Ukraine as well as Ukrainian diaspora groups and further involvement was encouraged by the witnesses. The witnesses agreed that these initiatives were important in keeping Ukraine engaged with the international community, which is preferable to isolation and closer ties with Russia. Another way that was suggested was for Canada to send a large number of election observers for the upcoming election, as has been done in the past. In general the witnesses were very positive about the efforts that Canada has made to date and expressed their wishes that such initiatives continue.

The Standing Committee on Health has turned its attention to Bill C-300, An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention.  Brought forward by M.P. Harold Albrecht, the Bill seeks to increase awareness about suicide and how mental illness, social surroundings and pressures can lead individuals to committing suicide.  Witnesses have included the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Canada and the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council among others.  Denise Batters, wife of late former M.P. Dave Batters, attended the committee to provide her experience in hope of establishing a framework regarding suicide prevention.

The minutes for both meetings can be found here  and here.

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