Debates of March 24th, 2005

Canadian Human Rights Commission

[The Speaker]

I have the honour to lay upon the table the 2004 Annual Report of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)( e ), this document is deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Committees of the House

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled: “Exploring Canada's Relations with the Countries of the Muslim World”.

Estimates -- Part III

[Reg Alcock, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, on behalf of my colleagues, part III of the estimates consisting of 90 departmental reports on plans and priorities. These documents will be distributed to members of the standing committees to assist in their consideration of the spending authorities already sought in part II of the estimates.

Letter of Thanks

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to a request the Deputy Prime Minister received from the family of the late RCMP constable Brock Myrol, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, a letter the family has asked us to share with all Canadians expressing appreciation and gratitude for the sorrow shown to them during this very difficult time.

Government Response to Petitions

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present, in both official languages, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) the government's response to 12 petitions.

Budget Implementation Act, 2005

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-43, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 23, 2005.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Transportation Amendment Act

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-44, an act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act, to enact the VIA Rail Canada Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Committees of the House

[Alan Tonks, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on the remaining 2,000 stateless Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines; the eighth report on the motion regarding temporary resident permits issued by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from January 1, 2003 to the present; and the ninth report on a motion regarding the process for determining immigration targets at overseas missions of visas at each immigration post.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

moved, seconded by the member for Dartmouth--Cole Harbour, for leave to introduce Bill C-356, an act to change the name of the electoral district of Sackville--Eastern Shore.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today on a very straightforward bill to change the electoral district of Sackville--Eastern Shore, which I now represent, to include the community of Preston. The riding name would then be formally known as Sackville--Preston--Eastern Shore.

I am proud to have my colleague from the Liberal Party, the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, second the bill. For those who may know, his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. John Savage, John being the former premier of Nova Scotia, were great advocates of the people of Preston and we think it would be an honour, not only to their memory but to the people of Preston, to include that great community in the federal riding of Sackville--Preston--Eastern Shore.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if I may indulge upon yourself and the members of the House of Commons, if I could seek unanimous consent to immediately send the bill to third reading it would be greatly appreciated by not only the people of my riding but the people of Canada as well.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Marcel Proulx)]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

Petitions

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my first petition is from a number of Canadians who call upon Parliament to support the traditional historic definition of marriage. I have tabled numerous petitions on this issue in recent months.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from a number of people from Prince Edward Island who call upon the government to return to the previous policy of allowing holy books to be made available to new citizens at citizenship ceremonies around the country.

Last year a citizenship judge terminated this policy alleging that the policy discriminated against non-religious immigrants. Up to last year holy books were simply displayed on tables at the back of the hall free for new citizens to take. The new citizens were not handed the books and they were not forced on them. The judge produced no evidence to justify his inappropriate decision to ban the availability of holy books at citizenship ceremonies.

The petitioners ask for the citizenship commission to return to the previous policy which has served our multicultural nation so very well.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my third petition is from a number of my constituents who call upon Parliament to retain section 241 of the Criminal Code without changes in order to maintain Parliament's opposition to assisted suicide. Section 241 makes it an indictable offence to counsel a person to commit suicide and to aide or abet a person committing suicide.

The petitioners ask for the retention of section 241 of the Criminal Code.

[Carol Skelton, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to introduce nine petitions to the House of Commons from hundreds of Canadians who ask the government to preserve and protect the current traditional definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. The first petition calls upon the government to amend the Canada Health Act relating to the issue of children with autism.

The petitioners want to have the act and the corresponding regulations changed to recognize that autism requires medically necessary treatment. They also want the creation of academic chairs at a university level in each province to teach intensive behavioural intervention and applied behavioural analysis.

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the next two petitions are from petitioners in my riding dealing with the issue of marriage. They pray that Parliament pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise pursuant to Standing Order 36(6) to present several petitions.

First, I would like to present a petition on behalf of 45 residents of Quebec who bring to the attention of the House the appointment of Mr. Yvon Charbonneau as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

The petitioners point out that Mr. Charbonneau is a man who has expressed anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and anti-American views and they believe that Parliament should therefore urge the Prime Minister to immediately withdraw Mr. Charbonneau's appointment as our ambassador to UNESCO and to articulate a clean and unambiguous message that anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. comments do not reflect the policies or the views of the Government of Canada.

I would also like to table a petition signed by some 42 residents of Ontario calling upon the government to withdraw Yvon Charbonneau from his position as the ambassador to UNESCO because of his record of anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli comments.

I would further like to table a petition signed by some 42 residents of Toronto calling upon the government to withdraw Mr. Charbonneau from his position as ambassador to UNESCO for the same reasons.

I have another petition signed by some 40 residents of Alberta calling upon the government to withdraw the appointment of Mr. Charbonneau to UNESCO because of his outrageous and odious remarks.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(6), I have another petition to table, which includes the signatures of some 180 residents of Calgary, principally from my constituency, who call upon the House to defend, using all necessary means, the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. They point out that the House adopted a motion reflective of that sentiment in 1999 and they call upon the House to reaffirm the traditional definition of marriage.

I have a further petition from some 100 signatories of principally Brampton, Ontario, calling upon the House of Commons to recognize that the majority of Canadians believe that fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament and that the majority of Canadians support the current legal definition of marriage as a voluntary union of a single man and a single woman.

I have another petition to table that comes from over 100 residents of Brantford, Norwich and Brampton, Ontario. They, too, call upon the House to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including the invocation of section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, if necessary, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

I have a further petition to table, signed by over 100 residents of Ontario, including Campbellville, Freelton and Millgrove. They, too, ask that the House maintain the traditional definition of marriage, which they point out is recognized in every country in the world through all of human history, save Belgian today.

Further, I have a petition signed by over 100 residents of Ontario, including Bowmanville and Kingston, who remind the House that it is the duty of Parliament to ensure that marriage is defined as Canadians wish it to be defined. They pray that Parliament maintain the current and longstanding definition of marriage.

I have another petition signed by over 100 residents of Alberta, principally from Grande Prairie and Dixonville, and residents from Martensville. This is a petition in a different form with a similar effect. It asks that Parliament retain the traditional definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman. They do so on the grounds that this is an institution which pre-existed the establishment of Canada as a state and point out that it is not within the appropriate jurisdiction of the Government of Canada or its courts to redefine the meaning of an institution of civil society.

Further, I have a petition signed by over 100 residents of the communities of Sylvan Lake and Red Deer in Alberta, principally, but there are also signatories from British Columbia. They too ask that Parliament maintain the current legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

Pursuant to Standing Order 36(6), I have the pleasure to introduce a petition signed by over 100 residents of the province of Alberta, principally from the communities of Slave Lake, who seek to remind Parliament that through all of human history marriage has been understood as the union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. They wish to bring that to our attention.

I would also like to table a petition of over 100 signators principally from the communities of Slave Lake and High River, Alberta. They too remind us that it should be members of Parliament, not an unelected judiciary, who determine social policy on critical issues such as marriage. They ask us to use all legislative means necessary to protect the definition of marriage, as this House decided to do in 1999.

Finally, I am pleased to table a petition signed by over 100 residents of Saskatchewan and Alberta, from such communities as Medstead and Canyon Creek, who ask that the House use all necessary means to maintain the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

[Alain Boire, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to table, in both official languages, a petition bearing the signatures of 5,300 people of the region of Huntingdon, situated in my riding of Beauharnois—Salaberry.

The petitioners are calling on the federal government to implement an assistance program for older workers who are hard hit by the crisis in the textile industry, so that they can retire with dignity and respect.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition this morning signed by many people from my riding of Burnaby—Douglas in the lower mainland of British Columbia. They outline their support for human rights around the world and for Canada's commitment to ensure those rights and an end to torture and they call on Parliament to negotiate with the Iranian government for the immediate release of Ms. Haleh Sahba, who was unfortunately deported from Canada last December, and to ensure her safe return to Canada.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on the subject of marriage prepared by a number of Canadians including petitioners from my riding of Mississauga South. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that the majority of Canadians believe that the fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament, not by the unelected judiciary. They therefore call upon Parliament to use all necessary legislative and administrative measures, including the invocation of section 33 of the charter, commonly known as the notwithstanding clause, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage being the legal union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.