Debates of June 9th, 2005

National Defence and Canadian Forces

[Keith Martin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, two copies of the National Defence and Canadian Forces ombudsman 2004-05 annual report to Parliament, “A Time of Change, A Time for Change”.

Government Response to Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, today, I have the honour to table the government's response to 52 petitions.

Committees of the House

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the thirteenth report of the Standing Committee on Finance which includes the report of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Imbalance, entitled “The Existence, Extent and Elimination of Canada's Imbalance”.

I would like to point out that this is the first report on this subject matter to be tabled in the House of Commons. This is also the first consensus to emerge concerning the existence of the fiscal imbalance, as well as the ways to eliminate it in the future.

I thank all my hon. colleagues and all the witnesses who have contributed to making this a success. I encourage the government to pay heed to the sound recommendations contained in this report.

[John Williams, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts concerning Chapter 1—Internal Audit in Departments and Agencies of the November 2004 report of the Auditor General of Canada.

In accordance with Standing Order 109, your committee requests a government response within 120 days.

I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts concerning Bill C-277, an act to amend the Auditor General Act (audit of accounts), and I intend to move concurrence in the report later this day.

[Tom Wappel, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans regarding aquatic invasive species.

Extension of Sitting Hours

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 27, I move:

That, during the ten sitting days ending on June 23, except on any Friday, the sitting shall be extended to 12 midnight.

[The Speaker]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Speaker]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Speaker]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Speaker]

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And more than five members having risen:

[The Speaker]

At the request of the chief government whip and the chief opposition whip, the vote on the motion is deferred until Monday, June 13 at 6:15 p.m.

Committees of the House

[John Williams, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among all parties and I believe you would find consent for the following motion. I move that the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which asks for an additional 30 sitting days to consider Bill C-277, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

[The Speaker]

Does the hon. member for Edmonton--St. Albert have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of a number of Canadians, including from my own riding of Mississauga South, concerning the subject of marriage.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that fundamental matters of social policy should be made by elected members of Parliament and not by the unelected judiciary. They also want to remind us that Parliament has the sole jurisdiction to define marriage.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including the invocation of section 33 of the charter, commonly known as the notwithstanding clause, to preserve and to protect the current definition of marriage, being the legal union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Barry Devolin, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to present this morning, the first of which concerns a program called the community access program that provides high speed Internet service into many small communities in my riding and across Ontario.

As we know, access to Internet service is important for economic development and it is important to make sure that no Canadians are left behind in a changing economy. In this petition several of my constituents urge the government to reconsider its decision to discontinue the CAP program.

[Barry Devolin, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three other petitions representing the views of several hundred people in my riding regarding the definition of marriage. I must say that it is my understanding that many more of these petitions are on the way.

The petitioners support the efforts of our member of Parliament, being myself, to defend marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

My constituents urge the Government of Canada to heed the views of Canadians. They urge the government to allow all of its member to vote freely on this motion.

[Gurbax Malhi, Liberal, Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of petitioners, I am presenting the following petition on employment insurance.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to build a better, fairer employment insurance system by adopting the committee recommendations submitted on February 15, 2005.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present a petition signed by over 150 residents of Winnipeg who are very concerned about the incidence of autism spectrum disorder.

They comment on the number of children diagnosed with ASD and ask the House to consider ensuring that there is some provision for these children and their families to receive treatments that have proven to be effective. Those treatments include intensive behavioural intervention and applied behaviour analysis.

They ask that we work to ensure that these children can develop to the capacity they are able and to provide every Canadian with autism with the best treatment available.