Debates of June 12th, 1995

Committees Of The House

[Richard Bélisle, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table today the twelfth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The topic of this report is the Department of National Defence, which has the largest budget of all federal departments.

It covers four chapters of the auditor general's 1994 report. First, Chapter 24, Defence Management Systems; Chapter 25, Information Technology; Chapter 26, Infrastructure Reductions and lastly, Chapter 27, Infrastructure Management.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts concludes at the end of its report that the auditor general should review on a regular basis the Department of National Defence's initiatives to improve its management structure and methods regarding management information systems, information technology, rationalization and infrastructure management and that he should report his findings at an appropriate time.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee is asking the government to table a global response to this report.

Petitions

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise in the House today to present petitions containing the names of 1,086 constituents who wish to halt the early release from prison of Robert Paul Thompson.

The petitioners are concerned about making our streets safer for our citizens. They are opposed to the current practice of early release of violent offenders prior to serving the full extent of their sentences.

I will be attending Robert Paul Thompson's National Parole Board hearing in Renous, New Brunswick, tomorrow, June 13, and I pray that the decision arising from that hearing will support the actions of these petitioners.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise before the House again today on what has become a crusade to obtain justice for the victims of violent offenders. Every day

since February 6 a petition has been tabled. Today's petition contains 1,257 names of constituents, all of whom wish to halt the early release from prison of Robert Paul Thompson.

The petitioners I represent are concerned about making our streets safer for our citizens. They are opposed to the current practice of early release of violent offenders prior to serving the full extent of their sentences.

I, along with my colleague, will attend Robert Paul Thompson's National Parole Board hearing tomorrow in Renous, New Brunswick. I pray that the decision arising from that hearing will support the actions of these petitioners.

[Jim Silye, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of Mr. Clifford Joynt, who along with 144 other constituents calls upon the Parliament of Canada to recognize that the word Canadian be listed as an answer to the ethnic origin question in all future censuses.

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to Standing Order 36. It is my privilege to present 17 petitions containing well over 15,000 signatures of Canadians who are opposed to Bill C-68.

The petitioners are requesting that Parliament not attack the recreational firearms community and that it support legislation that severely punishes one who uses a weapon, including a weapon other than a firearm, protects the rights and freedoms of the law-abiding recreational firearms community to own and use firearms responsibly, passes careful scrutiny to see that it will improve public safety in a cost effective manner, and repeals present firearms control legislation, which features tortuous language and has been characterized by the courts as one of the most horrifying examples of bad draftsmanship.

As we draw to the close of the debate on Bill C-68 this week because of time allocation invoked by the government, let these petitions serve as a reminder that the minister does not have the support of these nor millions of other Canadians.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

I simply want to remind the House that in tabling petitions we do not enter into debate.

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition that is humbly submitted by over 250 petitioners who are residents of Burlington, Mississauga, Toronto, and further points.

The petitioners are asking for an extension of the stay outside Canada for landed immigrants from the present 183 days to two years, the reason being that the care of property back home requires attention for a period that is longer than what is presently permitted under the law.

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions on different subjects, some of which are contradictory, and I would like to table the petitions pursuant to Standing Order 36.

[Ron MacDonald, Liberal, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions from constituents in my riding as well as ridings throughout central Nova Scotia.

The petitioners call on the government to enact changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act to protect individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation, in keeping with the campaign pledges that were made by the governing party during the election campaign.

[Charles Hubbard, Liberal, Miramichi, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my pleasure to present two petitions from persons from the riding of Miramichi.

The two petitions pray that Parliament ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide be enforced vigorously and that Parliament make no changes in the law that would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or any activity designed to terminate human life.

[Roseanne Skoke, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have four petitions to table before this House. Two are concerning Bill C-68, calling on Parliament not to enact any new firearm registry, registration fees, costs, or any further restrictions on the ownership, sale, use, transportation, or storage of firearms.

[Roseanne Skoke, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, another petition is praying that Parliament act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to unborn human beings.

[Roseanne Skoke, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition is requesting that Parliament delete entirely proposed section 718.2 from Bill C-41.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of JC-55 super country

radio station in Kamloops, who circulated a petition and have now collected nearly 75,000 signatures.

They point out in the petition that Canadians are becoming increasingly fearful to walk on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. They believe that many violent offenders and sex offenders are being paroled prematurely or being released without proper treatment or rehabilitation. They believe that those convicted of dangerous offences or sexual offences should be incarcerated until they have successfully undergone treatment and can demonstrate unequivocally that they have been completely rehabilitated.

Therefore, they are simply asking the House of Commons and the Minister of Justice to take whatever steps are necessary to accomplish these aims.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present a petition on behalf of residents of the town of Elkford in my community.

Your petitioners call on Parliament to enact legislation against serious personal injury crimes being committed by high risk offenders by permitting the use of post-sentence detention orders and specifically passing Bill C-240.

I am particularly pleased to present this petition because of a serious situation they were in. They asked me what to do. I suggested that they do exactly this, that they petition the government.

Questions Passed As Orders For Return

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 185 could be made an order for return, the return would be tabled immediately.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 185-

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

What is the total amount of federal public money, in 1995 dollars, that has been given to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) since its inception?

Return tabled.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I would ask that all other questions be allowed to stand.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to ask the government House leader when I can expect to receive an answer to Question No. 137, which has been on the Order Paper since February 6, 1995. I requested an answer from the government within 45 days, and now, as of today, 126 days have passed.

Last Thursday the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader said once again that I can expect an answer to my question soon. I know the government is not interested in a free and open debate on the issue of gun control because they have invoked time allocation, but I find it hard to believe the government does not have the information on the cost of gun control readily at hand. My dictionary defines "soon" as "before long, promptly, quickly". If the government isn't forthcoming with the information on the cost of gun control, maybe the parliamentary secretary should find a better word to describe this.

Will I have an answer before the six hours of limited Liberal debate in third reading of Bill C-68? Will I have the information so we can properly debate this question?

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the hon. member suggested, timetabling and organizing House business is an important aspect of government. In the case of these bills, the official opposition and the government agreed that six hours was quite a reasonable time to debate the gun control bill at the two stages, and that is what we have agreed to do.

The government has not opposed this unilaterally, and I know the hon. member knows that and would not want to think that the government was acting unilaterally in cutting off debate, but we are trying to organize the time between now and the end of the session. Part of the duty of organizing that time involves getting answers to questions.

I can tell the hon. member that a draft answer to this question has been seen. It was inaccurate. It is being corrected and will be available soon for the hon. member.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Soon again.