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Wednesday, March 26, 2014 · sitting No. 62

House allots one more day to debate online crime bill

The House agreed to allot one further sitting day to second-reading debate on Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act. Government House leader Peter Van Loan moved the time-allocation motion, which ends debate 15 minutes before the expiry of government orders on the allotted day.

In Question Period, NDP MP David Christopherson pressed the government on the Fair Elections Act, citing former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley's testimony that removal of vouching and limits on the chief electoral officer's communications would harm the voting system. Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre defended the bill, saying 39 forms of identification would remain available and that vouching had produced 50,000 irregularities in the last election.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau asked the government why it is cutting 77 per cent of climate-change program funding and 87 per cent of the building Canada fund next week. Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Infrastructure Minister Peter Braid said the government has tripled infrastructure spending since 2006 and is acting on emissions without a carbon tax.

Decided that day

  • First Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs passed
  • Bill C-13 advanced
  • Ways and Means motion to implement budget provisions passed
  • House proceeded to Orders of the Day
  • C-28 and C-29 received royal assent
  • C-30 introduced

From the Hansard record of the sitting. Full Hansard

No CPAC Question Period upload is on file for this day. CPAC’s channel goes back to December 2019.

Who held the floor · 2014-03-26

Government (Conservative)OppositionOver the day: government 51%, opposition 49% of the words spokenQuestion PeriodGovernment businessPrivate members▲ Government side held the floor▼ Opposition held the floorOpened 14:0515:0016:0017:0018:00Last speech 18:50Time of day, Ottawa · the House sat 4 h 45 min · each dot is a stretch of debate, placed at the minute it began
66Bills Pass Amid Points of OrderThe House passed a foreign-affairs report, advanced Bill C-13 and a budget motion, and granted royal assent to two bills while introducing a third. Twelve points of order and mostly deflected answers in question period slowed the sitting despite a high share of time on substantive topics.AI-rated Score out of 100; the verdict and the answer ratings behind it are a model’s reading. How the AI rates this

AI-rated The sitting score and the rating of each answer come from a language model reading Hansard. How the AI rates this

Other moments

Agriculture and Agri-Food

NDP MP Malcolm Allen said flour mills in eastern Canada are running short of western wheat and asked Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz when farmers would be compensated for losses caused by the rail backlog. Ritz replied that an order in council had already moved 4,400 cars per rail line the previous week.

Read the exchange

Labour

Treasury Board President Tony Clement told the House that the government had reached an agreement with public-sector unions and retirees to move the post-retirement health plan to equal cost-sharing, saving the treasury $1.1 billion a year for six years.

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Purple Day

NDP MP Dany Morin, Liberal MP Geoff Regan and Conservative MP James Rajotte each rose to mark Purple Day, noting that 300,000 Canadians live with epilepsy and urging support for measures to end drug shortages.

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Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett said the report of the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women betrayed the families of missing and murdered indigenous women by rejecting calls for a national inquiry.

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Transportation

NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu asked Transport Minister Lisa Raitt to intervene in the truckers' strike at Port Metro Vancouver. Raitt said the government had invested $1.4 billion in the port and was working with provincial and port officials on a 14-point plan.

Read the exchange

Question Period, exchange by exchange

AI-rated Each answer’s rating (answered, partly answered, deflected, answered something else) is a model’s reading of the exchange. How the AI rates this

  1. deflected
    Democratic ReformMr. David Christopherson (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer restates government position on ID and past irregularities without addressing openness to amendments.We know there were enormous irregularities in the last election with the use of vouching.
  2. partly answered
    Democratic ReformMr. David Christopherson (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer explains the new one-year requirement but does not address why it is not longer to aid investigations.The fair elections act creates a mandatory public registry, which, by the way, Mr. Kingsley lauded yesterday, and it requires that the records be kept for one year.
  3. deflected
    EthicsMr. David Christopherson (NDP) asked Mr. Paul Calandra (Conservative). loaded question.The question assumes improper use of jets for a friend; the answer explains the reimbursement policy without engaging the specific allegation.
  4. misdirected
    EthicsMs. Nycole Turmel (NDP) asked Mr. Paul Calandra (Conservative). loaded question.The answer turns to attacking the opposition's use of resources instead of addressing the jet usage claim.They have a lot to answer for over there.
  5. deflected
    Democratic ReformMs. Nycole Turmel (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer repeats the irregularities statistic and ID options without addressing expert recommendations or muzzling.When it was revealed that there were 50,000 irregularities related to vouching, this is what the leader of the NDP said.
  6. deflected
    The EnvironmentMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Leona Aglukkaq (Conservative). substantive question.The answer lists government actions on emissions but does not confirm acceptance of human-caused climate change.Thanks to our actions, carbon emissions will go down by close to 130 megatonnes from what they would have been under the Liberals.
  7. deflected
    InfrastructureMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Mr. Peter Braid (Conservative). substantive question.The answer highlights overall infrastructure spending but does not address the specific 87% cut to the building Canada fund.This government has tripled investments in infrastructure since we formed government in 2006.
  8. deflected
    InfrastructureMr. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) asked Mr. Peter Braid (Conservative). substantive question.The answer repeats record investments and insults the prior government's spending without addressing the announced cut.When that third party was government, I would describe its investments in infrastructure, in parliamentary terms, as peanuts.
  9. deflected
    FinanceMs. Jinny Jogindera Sims (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). loaded question.The answer ignores the data accuracy question and shifts to promoting job grant policy.That is why we are taking action, including the Canada job grant plan, to ensure skills training actually leads to permanent jobs
  10. misdirected
    FinanceMrs. Sadia Groguhé (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). loaded question.The answer attacks the NDP voting record instead of addressing the choice between PBO and Kijiji data.it is rather rich for the New Democrats to criticize the government's job creation record.
  11. deflected
    FinanceMr. Guy Caron (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). substantive question.The answer refuses to discuss lapsed funds and pivots to criticizing NDP votes on skills training.The question really is: Why did the NDP vote against skills training?
  12. deflected
    FinanceMr. Guy Caron (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). loaded question.The answer sidesteps the 2013 budget lapse question and restates overall job creation claims.Over a million net new jobs have been created since July 2009.
  13. misdirected
    FinanceMr. Nathan Cullen (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). loaded question.The answer attacks NDP fiscal policy rather than identifying which programs had lapsed funding.New Democrats have a scary fiscal policy, which is to spend money and raise taxes.
  14. partly answered
    FinanceMr. Nathan Cullen (NDP) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). substantive question.The answer provides transfer payment figures for Manitoba but ignores the $10 billion lapse and census error rectification.Manitoba will receive nearly $3.4 billion in federal transfers this year, a 24% increase from under the old Liberal government
  15. answered
    Democratic ReformMs. Alexandrine Latendresse (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer directly states agreement with requiring ID and lists the 39 approved means.There are 39 approved means of identification.
  16. deflected
    Democratic ReformMs. Alexandrine Latendresse (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer cites NDP internal rules instead of naming any independent expert supporting the bill's changes.the expert who has already shown that fundraising expenses should be excluded from campaign expenses is the same expert who wrote the NDP policy.
  17. deflected
    Democratic ReformMr. Craig Scott (NDP) asked Pierre Poilievre (Conservative). substantive question.The answer discusses the advisory committee but ignores the specific query on funding and amendments.This will allow for interpretations of law and advanced rulings to be consistent so that all parties play by the same rules.
  18. deflected
    PensionsMs. Chrystia Freeland (Liberal) asked Kevin Sorenson (Conservative). substantive question.Responds by opposing higher taxes instead of addressing negotiations or using EI premiums.Canadians simply do not want to pay higher payroll taxes.
  19. partly answered
    FinanceMr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Liberal) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). substantive question.Focuses on housing measures but sidesteps the budget's impact on middle class via infrastructure.That is why we recently took prudent action to strengthen Canada's housing market by introducing certain measures.
  20. answered
    PensionsScott Brison (Liberal) asked Joe Oliver (Conservative). loaded question.Provides explanation on EI rate freeze, countering the padding accusation implicitly.That is why we recently announced a three-year freeze to EI rates that would leave $660 million in the pockets of job creators and workers in 2014 alone.
  21. partly answered
    Agriculture and Agri-FoodMr. Malcolm Allen (NDP) asked Gerry Ritz (Conservative). substantive question.Addresses movement of cars and upcoming legislation but mentions briefing dismissively.Just yesterday afternoon, I briefed him and the other opposition colleagues on the piece of legislation that will be coming forward after question period today
  22. deflected
    Agriculture and Agri-FoodMr. Malcolm Allen (NDP) asked Gerry Ritz (Conservative). substantive question.Discusses past actions and legislation without addressing farmer compensation.We have moved forward on that rail review.
  23. deflected
    Rail TransportationMr. Hoang Mai (NDP) asked Lisa Raitt (Conservative). substantive question.Avoids giving a number, emphasizes collaboration instead.I was in Washington yesterday meeting with my counterparts on the matter, and we are working together for a North American solution.
  24. deflected
    Rail TransportationMr. Hoang Mai (NDP) asked Lisa Raitt (Conservative). substantive question.Reiterates North American approach without providing timeline for populated areas.it really is a North American issue.
  25. deflected
    PrivacyMr. Randall Garrison (NDP) asked Steven Blaney (Conservative). loaded question.The answer avoids the specific question about the number of departments by reiterating general compliance with law.This is a common practice, and one that is within the law.
  26. deflected
    PrivacyMs. Rosane Doré Lefebvre (NDP) asked Steven Blaney (Conservative). loaded question.The answer repeats prior general statements on legislation without addressing the specific requests or violation claim.Our government takes this matter very seriously on behalf of honest Canadians.
  27. partly answered
    Employment InsuranceMr. Robert Aubin (NDP) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). substantive question.The answer acknowledges service issues and mentions a study but does not explain the budget cuts or why services are declining.I have asked my parliamentary secretary to conduct a study to determine how we can improve services to employment insurance claimants.
  28. misdirected
    Employment InsuranceMr. Robert Chisholm (NDP) asked Jason Kenney (Conservative). substantive question.The answer shifts to attacking the NDP and defending overall policy instead of addressing service delays for EI claimants.I know that the NDP does not like fact-based opposition, but we prefer evidence-based policy.
  29. deflected
    The EnvironmentJohn McKay (Liberal) asked Leona Aglukkaq (Conservative). loaded question.The answer lists unrelated investments and avoids explaining how the specific cuts to climate programs help with GHG or Keystone.no federal government has done more for the environment than this government.
  30. deflected
    Citizenship and ImmigrationJohn McCallum (Liberal) asked Chris Alexander (Conservative). substantive question.The answer commits to listening and modernizing programs but does not address the language test commitment or opposition from witnesses.I can commit to doing two things: first, to continue to listen to Canadians, as we seek to update, modernize, and improve all of our immigration programs
  31. partly answered
    IndustryMs. Chris Charlton (NDP) asked Mike Lake (Conservative). substantive question.The answer details settlement commitments but does not address why the company has not been held accountable for the missing investments.The 2011 settlement with U.S. Steel contains commitments that provide economic benefit for Canada, particularly for Hamilton and Nanticoke.
  32. misdirected
    IndustryMr. Wayne Marston (NDP) asked Mike Lake (Conservative). substantive question.The answer pivots to the government's job creation record instead of committing to hold U.S. Steel accountable.What this government will commit to is continuing the record that has led to over one million net new jobs in this country since July 2009
  33. misdirected
    JusticeMr. Sean Casey (Liberal) asked Peter MacKay (Conservative). loaded question.The answer attacks the opposition's history and pivots to veterans funding instead of addressing the order on the notwithstanding clause.I have no idea why the member is insisting on the government examining the use of the notwithstanding clause, unless it is based on the fact that it was his government, his party, that was only one who ever used it.
  34. partly answered
    TransportationMr. Jasbir Sandhu (NDP) asked Lisa Raitt (Conservative). substantive question.The answer describes ongoing work and states parties are at the table but does not confirm the minister will sit down personally with truckers.I am in constant contact with both the chair of the port and Minister Stone on this matter.
  35. answered
    Air TransportationMr. Pierre-Luc Dusseault (NDP) asked Lisa Raitt (Conservative). loaded question.The answer directly explains the policy against expanding the list of 89 airports and the review process for requests like Sherbrooke's.we are not expanding this list of 89 airports.
  36. deflected
    Fisheries and OceansMr. Jean-François Fortin (Bloc) asked Gail Shea (Conservative). substantive question.The answer discusses digital updates and service delivery but avoids confirming whether the library will remain open.We have received the Commissioner of Official Languages' final report and are considering the recommendations.