Parliament AIIndependent · non-official

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Monday, March 26, 2018 · sitting No. 275

House debates Oceans Act amendments as Liberals limit fisheries bill debate

The House spent the largest share of its sitting on debate at second reading of Bill C-55, which amends the Oceans Act and the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. Liberal MP Terry Beech told the House the bill advances marine protection targets and incorporates committee amendments, while Conservative MP Peter Kent said the measure reduces transparency and NDP MP Richard Cannings questioned the absence of no-take zones.

Earlier, the government used time allocation to limit further debate on Bill C-68, which amends the Fisheries Act. Conservative MP Todd Doherty and NDP MP Fin Donnelly criticized the move as an unnecessary closure of discussion on legislation affecting coastal communities, while Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc defended it as a response to previous Conservative tactics.

Decided that day

  • Time allocation for Bill C-68 approved
  • Debate adjourned

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 · 2018-03-26

Government (Liberal)OppositionOver the day: government 47%, opposition 53% of the words spokenRoutine proceedingsGovernment businessQuestion PeriodGovernment business▲ Government side held the floor▼ Opposition held the floorOpened 11:0012:0013:0014:0015:0016:0017:0018:00Last speech 19:20Time of day, Ottawa · the House sat 8 h 20 min · each dot is a stretch of debate, placed at the minute it began
44Debate flows, bills stay dockedThe sitting devoted substantial time to fisheries and public-safety topics yet advanced no bills through any stage. Two procedural votes passed while frequent points of order and mostly deflected answers kept the tone contentious.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

Public Safety

Conservative Leader Candice Bergen asked whether the Prime Minister knew his national security adviser would brief media on an alleged Indian link to the Atwal invitation; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau replied that the opposition leader should accept a classified briefing instead of playing politics.

Read the exchange

Taxation

NDP MP Guy Caron said CRA criminal investigations into tax evasion have fallen by half since 2010-11 despite the Panama and Paradise papers; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited nearly $1 billion in new funding and $44 million in penalties already imposed.

Read the exchange

Public Services and Procurement

Bloc Québécois MP Alexandre Boulerice pressed the government to sign contracts with Davie shipyard for four icebreakers; Public Services and Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough said negotiations continue and will not be conducted on the floor of the House.

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Housing

NDP MP Sheri Benson asked when the government would embed the right to housing in law rather than treat it as a slogan; Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos pointed to the November national housing strategy announcement that recognized housing as a human right.

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International Trade

NDP MP Richard Cannings urged the government not to concede greater U.S. market access for Canadian wine under NAFTA; Parliamentary Secretary Andrew Leslie said American wine already sells well here and Ottawa will defend Canadian producers.

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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
    Public SafetyCandice Bergen (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer pivots to offering a briefing instead of addressing whether the PM knew about the media briefing.the leader of the official opposition has been offered a classified briefing from the non-partisan professional public service, but for reasons known only to him, he refuses to accept that briefing.
  2. deflected
    Public SafetyCandice Bergen (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer again avoids the yes/no question by restating the offer of a classified briefing and accusing opposition of petty politics.We have offered, repeatedly, for the leader of the official opposition to receive a classified briefing.
  3. deflected
    Public SafetyCandice Bergen (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer cuts off but continues to reference the briefing offer rather than answering the question.I think Canadians are puzzled to know that the leader of the official opposition was offered—
  4. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Pierre Paul-Hus (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer ignores the yes/no question and pivots to the opposition leader refusing a briefing.the Leader of the Opposition was given the opportunity to attend a classified briefing session with a non-partisan professional public servant, but for reasons known only to him, he is refusing to find out the truth.
  5. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Pierre Paul-Hus (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer restates the briefing offer and shifts to attacking opposition on gun laws instead of answering.Opposition members even spent 21 hours voting because they wanted to talk about this instead of firearms.
  6. partly answered
    TaxationMr. Guy Caron (NDP) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer addresses investments and actions taken against tax evasion but does not directly respond to the drop in cases or the timeline for fixing the system.we have invested nearly $1 billion in the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance.
  7. partly answered
    TaxationMr. Guy Caron (NDP) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.Answer reiterates the investment amount and commitment but does not address the specific CRA figures or the KPMG versus small fish disparity.in budgets 2016 and 2017, we allocated nearly $1 billion to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance.
  8. deflected
    PrivacyMr. Charlie Angus (NDP) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). loaded question.Answer sidesteps the accusation of Liberal-Facebook ties by focusing on general data protection and the Privacy Commissioner's investigation.our government has always been unequivocal that the protection of Canadians' data and personal information is of the utmost importance.
  9. deflected
    PrivacyMr. Charlie Angus (NDP) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). substantive question.The answer discusses general threats to democracy without addressing the request about Jeff Silvester or subpoenas.Our government is committed to ensuring that Canadians can continue to trust in our democratic institutions.
  10. misdirected
    Public SafetyErin O'Toole (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer turns to attacking the opposition for not accepting a briefing instead of confirming or denying the claim about classified information to journalists.It is rather odd that the official opposition does not seem interested in getting the facts.
  11. deflected
    Public SafetyErin O'Toole (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer avoids confirming or denying the claim by redirecting to an offer of a classified briefing.The fact is that the Prime Minister has made an offer to the Leader of the Opposition
  12. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. Luc Berthold (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). loaded question.The answer ignores the question about conflicting statements and redirects to the same briefing offer.The Leader of the Opposition should accept the offer of a classified briefing from impartial government officials, and then further things can be discussed.
  13. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. Luc Berthold (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). loaded question.The answer attacks the opposition as willfully blind instead of addressing why the adviser cannot testify publicly.However, it appears that the opposition is more interested in being willfully blind.
  14. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Mark Strahl (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer restates the classified briefing offer without addressing the request for the same unclassified briefing given to media.the Leader of the Opposition needs to be properly informed of all the appropriate classified information.
  15. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Mark Strahl (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer avoids answering whether classified information was shared with media by again pushing the briefing offer and attacking the opposition.The question is this. Why does the official opposition decline to be informed?
  16. partly answered
    Public Services and ProcurementMr. Alexandre Boulerice (NDP) asked Carla Qualtrough (Liberal). substantive question.The answer addresses the ongoing negotiations but provides no timeline or commitment on signing contracts.we are negotiating with Davie shipyard regarding the Canadian Coast Guard's icebreaker needs.
  17. deflected
    Public Services and ProcurementMs. Karine Trudel (NDP) asked Carla Qualtrough (Liberal). substantive question.The answer refuses to address the status of talks or any secret plan.We are not going to do our negotiating here in the House.
  18. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. Glen Motz (Conservative) asked Justin Trudeau (Liberal). loaded question.The answer attacks the opposition for playing politics instead of addressing the request for testimony.The Leader of the Opposition does not want to know the truth. He wants to play politics.
  19. misdirected
    Public SafetyMrs. Sylvie Boucher (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). loaded question.The answer attacks the opposition for playing politics rather than addressing the request for the briefing.The Leader of the Opposition should accept that offer and then further things can be discussed.
  20. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. John Brassard (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). loaded question.The answer attacks the opposition for both defending and attacking Mr. Jean instead of answering the question.one minute the opposition members pretend to defend Mr. Jean; the next minute they are attacking Mr. Jean.
  21. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. John Brassard (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer avoids classifying the information and repeats the offer of a briefing.the offer has been made. It is up to the Leader of the Opposition to either accept the offer of a classified briefing
  22. partly answered
    HousingMs. Sheri Benson (NDP) asked Jean-Yves Duclos (Liberal). substantive question.The answer addresses the housing strategy announcement but not the request to recognize the right in law.we also announced that these investments would reduce homelessness and take 500,000 Canadians out of housing that was either unaffordable or inadequate
  23. partly answered
    HousingMs. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet (NDP) asked Jean-Yves Duclos (Liberal). substantive question.The answer quotes the rapporteur on the strategy but does not address incorporating the right into legislation.What makes this a truly historic moment is the government's acknowledgement that housing is a human right and its intention to recognize this through a rights-based housing strategy as well as in legislation
  24. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Gérard Deltell (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer repeats the offer of a classified briefing without addressing access to the same information for Canadians.the offer has been made to the leader of the official opposition to be fully briefed about all the classified details of the situation.
  25. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Gérard Deltell (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer pivots to briefing offer for opposition leader instead of addressing public release.Why would a person interested in discovering the truth of the whole story turn down the information?
  26. deflected
    Public SafetyPierre Poilievre (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer avoids yes/no by accusing opposition of preferring to be wilfully blind.one can only conclude that he prefers to be wilfully blind to the circumstances and play politics with the situation.
  27. deflected
    Public SafetyPierre Poilievre (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer repeats accusation of playing politics without addressing the direct question.the opposition is clearly determined to play politics with the situation and would rather not be informed of the facts in order to be wilfully blind.
  28. partly answered
    International TradeMr. Richard Cannings (NDP) asked Andrew Leslie (Liberal). substantive question.Answer discusses government actions on wine industry but does not commit on NAFTA demands.We will continue to work closely with the provinces and territories on this issue.
  29. partly answered
    International TradeMs. Tracey Ramsey (NDP) asked Andrew Leslie (Liberal). substantive question.Answer notes ongoing work for exemption but gives no timeline for action.We are going to continue this good work until the prospect of these duties is fully and finally lifted.
  30. misdirected
    Public SafetyMrs. Cathy McLeod (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer attacks opposition conduct instead of answering the yes/no question.The opposition is not at all interested in the public interest of Canada.
  31. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. Todd Doherty (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer responds with a counter-question rather than addressing the query.Will the Leader of the Opposition accept an offer for a full classified briefing on all the facts of the situation so he can be informed, or does the Leader of the Opposition prefer to be wilfully blind and play politics?
  32. misdirected
    Public SafetyMr. Todd Doherty (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.Answer accuses opposition of obfuscation instead of giving a yes or no.it is abundantly clear that the opposition is not interested in real information.
  33. deflected
    Public SafetyMr. Arnold Viersen (Conservative) asked Ralph Goodale (Liberal). substantive question.The answer avoids the question by posing a counter-question and dismissing the inquiry as a 'silly political charade'.or does he just want to continue a silly political charade?
  34. partly answered
    Agriculture and Agri-FoodMs. Brigitte Sansoucy (NDP) asked Mr. Jean-Claude Poissant (Liberal). substantive question.The answer mentions funding for organic standards but does not address who bears consultation costs or comparisons to the US and Europe.We are contributing to and funding the development of new organic standards.
  35. deflected
    Public Services and ProcurementSteven Blaney (Conservative) asked Carla Qualtrough (Liberal). substantive question.The answer states that discussions are ongoing but refuses to provide any timeline or commitment on the icebreakers.We will not comment further at this point, but we continue our discussions.
  36. deflected
    Foreign AffairsMr. Mario Beaulieu (Bloc) asked Mr. Matt DeCourcey (Liberal). substantive question.The answer expresses hope for a peaceful solution but does not address whether Canada will denounce the events.we hope for a peaceful solution to this ongoing debate that is in accordance with the laws and the Spanish constitution.
  37. deflected
    Foreign AffairsMr. Xavier Barsalou-Duval (Bloc) asked Mr. Matt DeCourcey (Liberal). substantive question.The answer repeats a general statement without addressing the call to release political prisoners or denounce the arrests.we continue to follow the situation closely, and we hope for a peaceful solution to this ongoing debate in accordance with the laws and the Spanish constitution.