House of Commons Hansard #109 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was taxes.

Topics

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Reform

Howard Hilstrom Reform Selkirk—Interlake, MB

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a second petition from many Manitobans who are concerned about nuclear weapons in the world. The petitioners request the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which would set a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Joe McGuire Liberal Egmont, PE

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure to present two petitions on behalf of Prince Edward Islanders, specifically those from Vernon River, Vernon Bridge and the Lake Verde area. The petitioners are concerned that rural route mail couriers are being denied their collective bargaining rights under subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act and that this denial keeps the wages and working conditions of the RRMCs at an unfair level and discriminates against rural workers. Therefore, the petitioners would like this section to be repealed.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Bloc

Daniel Turp Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC

Mr. Speaker, as the debates on Bill C-20 are continuing in the Senate, I have the honour to present, on behalf of Quebec citizens, a petition to tell the House that they alone control their destiny, that they alone can decide their future, and that Bill C-20 is undemocratic. It respects neither the letter nor the spirit of the supreme court opinion. I am tabling this motion on behalf on these citizens.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Graham Liberal Toronto Centre—Rosedale, ON

Mr. Speaker, sometimes catching the Speaker's eye is like operating in a busy restaurant and I am grateful to be recognized.

I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of the citizens of Toronto who call on the House to urge the Canadian government to use its influence on the Ethiopian government to renounce the use of force and to adhere to the OAU plan in that troubled region; to call on the Ethiopian government to respect human rights and ensure the reunification of some 2,600 children who have been separated from their families; and to ensure that the Canadian government intervenes to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the area.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

The Speaker wants to thank the hon. member for Toronto Centre—Rosedale. While on occasion I feel like a waiter, I was very jumpy going back to the hon. member after the lengthy speech he made on presentation of reports from committees.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Loyola Hearn Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition from over 1,000 people from all over the province of Newfoundland. The petitioners ask that the CBC not diminish nor eliminate the news and current affairs program Here and Now from the Newfoundland and Labrador region.

I would suggest to members opposite that unless they support this before the next election, they might be here now, but they won't be here then.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

NDP

Nelson Riis NDP Kamloops, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a petition from a number of constituents, who I think made a mistake on their petition. It states that the federal government pays only 13.5% of health care costs, which has led to a shortage of nurses, hospital beds and emergency room spaces across the country. I think it is 14%.

The reality is, whether it is 13.5% or 14%, it still makes the point.

The petitioners outline a number of concerns about the health care system. Basically the petitioners are calling upon parliament to stop for profit hospitals and restore federal funding for health care.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Rose-Marie Ur Liberal Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition on behalf of my hon. colleague from Parry Sound—Muskoka. Hundreds of his constituents are urging the government to reduce the tax penalty on early RRSP and RRIF withdrawals from 50% to 10% for senior citizens who may use the money to retire their mortgages.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

NDP

John Solomon NDP Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honour on behalf of many constituents to present to the House of Commons, pursuant to Standing Order 36, a petition addressing the very unfortunate situation we are facing with health care in the country.

Saskatchewan has lost $1.4 billion in health care since 1993 when the Liberals were elected. To say the least, the people of Saskatchewan are a little ticked off at the Liberal government for its lack of priority in health care.

The petitioners believe very strongly that, even though we have lost $1.4 billion from the Liberal government transfer payments for health care, the NDP government in Saskatchewan has backfilled every one of those dollars plus, even though it has lost the federal share. These people are really ticked off at the Liberal government because it is not only continuing the cuts, but the petitioners say that the government is also embracing two tier American style health care.

The petitioners call for the House of Commons and the government to stop for profit hospitals. They call for federal funding to be restored for health care, keeping in mind that if $1.4 billion has been lost in seven years to Saskatchewan what that means to Ontario, where the loss would be multiplied.

The petitioners also ask that the federal government share of health care funding be increased to a more suitable level to meet the very urgent needs of Canadians who require health care services.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario

Liberal

Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

Is that agreed?

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario

Liberal

Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I would like Motion No. P-30 to be called.

Motion No. P-30

That an Order of the House do issue for copies of all studies which were done prior to the banning of the 2% and 5% solutions of strychnine to show the effect the banning of these solutions would have on Canadian Farmers.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

Mr. Speaker, no studies were done on the effect—economic impact—on Canadian farmers of the withdrawal of the registration of the concentrated strychnine solutions, 2% and 5%, used by farmers to mix their own 0.4% end-use products.

I therefore ask the hon. member to withdraw his motion.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Reform

Leon Benoit Reform Lakeland, AB

Mr. Speaker, I ask that Motion No. P-30 be transferred for debate.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

The motion is transferred for debate pursuant to Standing Order 97(1).

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

Is it agreed that the remaining Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers stand?

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Business Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Bob Kilger Liberal Stormont—Dundas, ON

Mr. Speaker, discussions have taken place between all parties and the member for Churchill River concerning the taking of the division on Motion No. 237, scheduled at the conclusion of Private Members' Business later today, and I believe you would find consent for the following:

That at the conclusion of today's debate on M-237, all questions necessary to dispose of the said motion be deemed put, a recorded division deemed requested and deferred until Monday, June 12, 2000, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders.

(Motion agreed to)

Business Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, ON

Mr. Speaker, I want refer to a matter of privilege that was raised on Monday of this week by the Chair and, more important, by the Canadian Alliance member for Fraser Valley.

I was about to head over to the doctor to have my foot looked at as a result of a very good game of soccer last night with the pages. They were a little zealous in their duty and I believe their aim was to reduce the number of members who played in that event.

I am here because I want to give some clarification on Bill C-201. To understand this, Bill C-201 is at the report stage. It was, however, sent back from committee as a blank piece of paper. This is the first time the House has ever dealt with a situation wherein a committee has deemed, in its wisdom, to do what the wider parliament did not do and to return a blank piece of paper.

In the meantime, for a variety of dates, circumstances and other reasons, we have been trying to find an amenable way to restore through amendments the effect of Bill C-201.

I am concerned that those who raised this issue are somewhat incognizant of the fact that their own party, the Canadian Alliance, stood four square behind the destruction of Bill C-201, a bill that ironically deals with changes in the Competition Act for predatory pricing, the very thing that Microsoft will be facing in the United States in the next little while. The subtle differences between our two jurisdictions are important.

We as a parliament are dealing with rather new territory. We are really creating a new path as far as Private Members' Business is concerned. I believe this is an important bill and a good bill. We have taken measures, on a number of occasions in the past, to ensure that notice was given so that Private Members' Business could be substituted with other more ready bills. I remember one instance when there was an illness. I hope to have a resolution in the near future on this matter.

I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that we are dealing with a situation that we have never seen before wherein we have those who are concerned about debating this bill actually having had a hand in gutting the bill in the first instance through the industry committee.

I hope that is satisfactory, and I would hope that those who have any questions about Bill C-201 in the first instance will explain why they want to bring up the issue of Bill C-201 beyond the question of simple privilege.

Business Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

I thank the hon. member for his comments. I know the Speaker, who has taken this matter under advisement, was looking forward to hearing from the hon. member. His comments will be noted and the Speaker will render a decision on this matter in due course.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-25, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 1999, as reported (with amendment) from the committee.

Income Tax Act Amendments, 1999Government Orders

3:30 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

There are two motions in amendment standing on today's notice paper for the report stage of Bill C-25.

Neither motion can be proposed to the House because they are not accompanied by the recommendation of the governor general. Standing Order 76(3) requires that notice of such a recommendation be given no later than the sitting day before the beginning of report stage consideration of a bill.

Accordingly, the question on the motion for concurrence at report stage will be put without debate.

Income Tax Act Amendments, 1999Government Orders

3:30 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion Liberalfor the Minister of Finance

moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in at report stage.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?