House of Commons Hansard #54 of the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was witnesses.

Topics

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to move the motion?

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Some hon. members

No.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

NDP

Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK

Mr. Speaker, I wish to return to the point of order from the member for Huron—Bruce. Just for the record, there was deliberation at committee last night among all parties. The member requested that all members go to their House leaders in order to give unanimous consent today. The member for the Bloc Quebecois is not fully informed and--

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

The Chair thinks it is kind of late to come out with such a point of order.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to address my request for unanimous consent for Motion No. 588. Could we state the members who were opposed to giving unanimous consent?

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

No. This is not in the rule book at all.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

May 13th, 2004 / 10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions containing hundreds of signatures from around Canada. All three petitions are on the same subject matter. They call upon Canada to protect the definition of marriage.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition that asks the Parliament of Canada to bring in legislation defining a human fetus or embryo from the moment of conception, whether in the womb of the mother or not, and whether conceived naturally or otherwise, as a human being, and making any and all consequential amendments to all Canadian laws as required

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

James Lunney Canadian Alliance Nanaimo—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have about 1,000 signatures on a petition from people right across the country from Cape Breton Island to Vancouver Island. They call upon Parliament to implement my private member's Bill C-420.

The petitioners are protesting subsections 3(1) and 3(2) of the Food and Drugs Act that say: “No person shall advertise any food, drug, cosmetic or device to the general public as a treatment, preventative or cure for any of the diseases, disorders or abnormal physical states referred to in Schedule A”.

The petitioners say that is unscientific, antiquated, and it is from 1934. They ask Parliament to update that so that Canadians can have access to safe natural health products.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

James Lunney Canadian Alliance Nanaimo—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, furthermore, I have another series of petitions on the subject of marriage. The petitioners call on Parliament to affirm the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and to do all that is necessary to ensure that marriage is defended and protected.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC

Mr. Speaker, as the member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans, I am pleased to present a petition signed by 2,704 people residing mostly in the new part of the constituency, namely the Upper North Shore RCM.

The petitioners are asking Parliament to exert pressure on the federal government to put an end to EI transitional measures, to increase workers' benefits and to adopt a universal employment insurance program.

These people are involved mainly in seasonal industries and they find the rules that exclude them from the employment insurance program unacceptable.

I can tell the House that, despite the announcement made by the minister this week, because this petition was signed before—

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member, but the presentation of his petition is taking the form of a debate.

I am therefore giving the floor to the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions that I am very pleased to present to the House.

The first is from constituents who are very concerned about the present restrictions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act pertaining to family sponsorship. The petitioners would definitively like to see an expansion of the definition of family to include other relatives.

They call upon this government to amend the legislation to address the concerns to ensure that family reunification is a cornerstone of our immigration policy.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, second and very important, I have a petition pertaining to health care.

The petitioners believe that Canada's health care system is a good one, that medicare is a strong model, and any changes should be done in accordance with the principles of the Canada Health Act.

They want tes government to implement the recommendations of the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care. They indicate that this is the best prescription for Canada's ailing health care system.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

NDP

Lorne Nystrom NDP Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by hundreds of people across the country concerned that the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency should be held to the same standards as any instrument of justice by applying the principles of natural justice, the charter and common law, and that the citizens and taxpayers should enjoy all the protections provided by the law.

Specifically, it says: “That, in the opinion of the House, the government should introduce legislation to ensure that all Canadians have the same rights with respect to tax obligations as people accused of crimes; that is, to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that relevant legislation should be amended to this end”.

I am sure that all members would support this sentiment.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to table a bundle of petitions from close to 2,000 Canadians committed to building a peaceful world based on human security.

These Canadians are pleading with the government to, first, withdraw from any participation in a national missile defence; second, to condemn the destabilization that star wars will inevitably create in our world; and, third, to work with our partners in peace for more effective arms control, and to put an end to production and sale of weapons of mass destruction.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Sarnia—Lambton Ontario

Liberal

Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 79 and Starred Question No. 85 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Question No. 79Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

With regard to the Federal sponsorship Program, and according to Communications Canada records from the years 2000 through 2003, inclusive: ( a ) what events, companies, groups, individuals or projects located in Windsor West received funds; ( b ) on what dates were the funds allocated/contracts awarded; ( c ) what was the stated purpose of the funds/contracts, and ( d ) what is the detailed breakdown of the total value of each allocation of funds/contracts?

Return tabled.

Question No. 85Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Guy St-Julien Liberal Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, QC

With respect to the Communication Canada Sponsorship Program administered by the Department of Public Works and Government Services, can the government provide: ( a ) the name of each project that received funding in the ridings of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, Roberval and Témiscamingue; ( b ) the net amount received by each organization; ( c ) the commission received by the agency of record; ( d ) the commission received by the advertising agency; ( e ) the name of the agency of record that received funds; and ( f ) the name of the advertising agency that received funds?

Return tabled.

Question No. 85Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have been up on this point of order a few times.

It relates to questions on the aboriginal fisheries and the buyout of non-traditional fishing licences. The point that I make is that the parliamentary secretary gets up on his hind legs and suggests that because it was not starred, over 45 days is acceptable.

We know we are on the eve of an election. He knows full well that question will not be answered until after we go to the polls. I think the government, with its thousands of employees, could answer that question this afternoon. It is not complicated. We want those answers before we go to the polls. There is no statistical data to either support that program or reject it, and it has a huge impact on both traditional and non-traditional fishers.

I believe that--

Question No. 85Routine Proceedings

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

Order, please. You are getting into debate. When you put your question, you did not request that it be dealt with within 45 days. This is the reason why it has not been answered.

Question No. 85Routine Proceedings

10:20 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

Mr. Speaker, in all fairness, that 45 days means nothing. We are at least a week, maybe seven days from an election call, maybe less. That is irrelevant. We want those questions answered. Will the government do it between now and the election, yes or no? That is all we want to know.