Motions

Car Theft – Tim Uppal (Conservative, Alberta, Edmonton Mill Woods)

Tim says, that:

  • After eight years of soft on crime policies, this Prime Minister has created the auto theft crisis
  • According to the Liberal government’s own news release, auto theft in Toronto is up 300% since 2015, and Statistics Canada data shows auto-theft is up 190% in Moncton, 122% in Ottawa-Gatineau, 106% in Montréal, 62% in Winnipeg, since 2015
  • The Port of Montreal, a major hub for stolen vehicles to be shipped out of Canada, only has five Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) agents to inspect the 580,000 containers that leave the port each year, according to the Le Journal de Montréal, with one law enforcement agent saying, “CBSA has no resources to check the containers, they check less than one per cent of containers”
  • It is the responsibility of the federal government to reduce auto theft as the primary prevention tools, including the Criminal Code, the RCMP, the CBSA and our port systems, which are the federal government’s jurisdiction
  • The increase in auto theft is costing Canadian drivers as insurance premiums are increasing, and in Ontario, insurance companies are able to increase premiums by 25% this year
  • A report by Équité estimates $1 billion in vehicle theft claims were paid out in 2022, and these costs are being passed down to drivers

In order to stop the crime and reduce auto theft to lower insurance premiums, the House call on the government to:

  • Immediately reverse changes the Liberal government made in their soft on crime Bill C-5 that allows for car stealing criminals to be on house arrest instead of jail
  • Strengthen Criminal Code provisions to ensure repeat car stealing criminals remain in jail
  • Provide the CBSA and our ports with the resources they need to prevent stolen cars from leaving the country

On the topic of his reasoning for this one, first I’d like to point out once again that “soft on crime” is a sound bite and has no real meaning. I also can’t find any sources about the number of CBSA agents at the Port of Montreal, so not sure where that number’s come from. It’s also worth noting that the press release Tim mentions was including numbers up to 2022, though it looks like 2023’s numbers weren’t much better.

As for Tim’s solutions it’s worth noting that judges already have the option to put car thieves in jail instead of on house arrest. Increasing the strictness of punishments won’t necessarily do anything, especially when articles are saying that in Toronto cases are being thrown out due to lack of judges.

The Motion failed with 148 voting in favour and 179 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal01510
Conservative11600
Bloc Quebecois3000
NDP0250
Green020
Independent210
Vote Record

M-75 – Polish Constitution Day – Peter Fonseca (Liberal, Ontario, Mississauga East—Cooksville)

Peter proposed a Motion to make May 3 Polish Constitution Day and the month of May Polish Heritage Month. This Motion passed with everyone voting in favour.

M-86 – Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform

M-86 went up for a vote and failed with 101 voting in favour and 220 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal391080
Conservative31120
Bloc Quebecois3000
NDP2400
Green200
Independent300
Vote Record

There was a pretty decent split in the Liberal vote here, so if you’re in a Liberal riding and want to know how your MP voted just use the Vote Record link above to see which way they voted.

As for the Conservatives, Ben Lobb (Conservative, Ontario, Huron—Bruce), John Nater (Conservative, Ontario, Perth—Wellington), and Alex Ruff (Conservative, Ontario, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound) supported M-86.

Federal Immigration Targets – Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Québécois, Quebec, Beloeil—Chambly)

Yves-François asks that the House:

  • Recall that on Nov 1, 2023 it unanimously agreed to review immigration targets starting in 2024 after consulting with provinces on their ability to integrate immigrants
  • Call on the Prime Minister to hold a meeting with provincial governments to consult them on their integration capacities
  • Call on the government to table a plan to revise immigration targets based on the integration capacity of the provinces within 100 days

Amendment – Jenny Kwan (NDP, British Columbia, Vancouver East)

Jenny wants to adjust this Motion to also have the government table a report on the gap between the resources needed for provinces to meet federal immigration targets and the resources provinces have, as well as a plan for making up the difference.

The amendment passed with 175 voting in favour and 152 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal01510
Conservative11500
Bloc Quebecois3200
NDP2400
Green200
Independent210
Vote Record

The amended Motion then passed with 173 voting in favour and 150 against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal01490
Conservative11600
Bloc Quebecois3100
NDP2200
Green200
Independent210
Vote Record

Committee Reports

Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food – Grocery Affordability

The Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food’s been looking into grocery prices and has come back with the following recommendations:

  1. Take the steps to collect and make public data on costs throughout the food supply chain, similar to the US’s Food Dollar Series research program
  2. Provide additional funding to Indigenous-leg initiatives in remote and Northern areas to improve infrastructure that supports the food security of their communities
  3. Work with provinces and territories to reduce food waste by:
    • Checking how removing best-before dates would impact Canadians
    • Work with non-profit groups and food retailers to develop programs to donate food that would otherwise become waste
    • Extend the timeline for the single-use plastic ban and work to make sure viable alternatives are available, especially for packaging that would extend the shelf-life of food
  4. Reimburse farmers and retailers that paid a 35% tariff on imports of Russian fertilizer since 2022 and discontinue the tariff
  5. Make sure agricultural producers have sufficient cash flow during this high inflation period by making sure they have access to short-term low-cost credit and maintaining the increased threshold for interest-free payments under the Advance Payments Program
  6. Expedite the National Supply Chain Task Force’s recommendations, especially:
    • Investing in critical transportation infrastructure
    • Supporting supply chain digitization
    • Addressing labour shortages in the transportation supply chain
    • Establish a Supply Chain Office
  7. Reduce timelines, costs, and paperwork for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program by expediting the Trusted Employer system proposed in 2022
  8. Encourage innovation in the agriculture sector through incentives and support programs
  9. If the Competition Bureau finds in its upcoming market study that large grocery chains are generating excess profits on food, consider introducing a windfall profits tax on large price-setting corporations
  10. Increase inspections on foreign products and make sure they meet the same quality standards as domestic products for both environmental and labour standards
  11. Create a mandatory and enforceable grocery code of conduct
  12. Create a standard for unit price labelling to make it easier for Canadians to judge the price of food
  13. Strengthen the Competition Bureau by:
    • Changing the Competition Act to give the Bureau the ability to force companies and individuals under market investigation to provide relevant documents and information
    • Review the thresholds used to determine if a merger or acquisition hurts competition
    • Create a permanent administration to analyze data regarding prices and profit margins in the agriculture sector
    • Consider any conclusions the Bureau’s grocery market study makes

Rejection – Warren Steinley (Conservative, Saskatchewan, Regina—Lewvan)

Warren wanted to reject this report, asking that the House send it back with instructions that the committee recommend that the House rejects the Senate’s amendments to C-234 – An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.

This rejection failed with 117 voting in favour and 211 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal01520
Conservative11600
Bloc Quebecois0300
NDP0250
Green020
Independent120
Vote Record

The report was then accepted with everyone voting in favour.

Bill Updates

C-323 – An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (mental health services)

Just a quick update here, the Committee on Finance wants another month to consider C-323. The request passed with 212 voting in favour and 114 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal15200
Conservative01140
Bloc Quebecois3100
NDP2500
Green200
Independent200
Vote Record

C-352 – Lowering Prices for Canadians Act

C-352 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with 178 voting in favour and 149 voting against.

PartyForAgainstPaired
Liberal31480
Conservative11500
Bloc Quebecois3100
NDP2500
Green200
Independent210
Vote Record

The Liberals argue that they’ve already made progress towards fixing competition in Canada with C-56. I haven’t covered C-56 yet, but one of the main things they point to is that it removes the efficiency defense for mergers. If the increased efficiency of having the companies merged offsets the loss of competition things are fine. The example they give is when Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart merged, and how after C-56 that type of merger wouldn’t have been allowed.

The Conservatives supported C-352, arguing that the Competition Act is protecting monopolies and allowing large companies to merge, and that needs to be changed. They also went on a tangent about the carbon tax.

The Bloc Québécois support C-352, agreeing with the Conservatives that the Competition Act is outdated and needs to be fixed.

Worth noting here is that Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Liberal, Ontario, Beaches—East York), Ken Hardie (Liberal, British Columbia, Fleetwood—Port Kells), and Wayne Long (Liberal, New Brunswick, Saint John—Rothesay) voted against their party in support of C-352.

C-352 will now be sent to the Committee on Industry and Technology.

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