John Cummins

[Petitions, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present a petition today from residents of mostly Cranbrook and the Creston area of British Columbia, sports fishermen who are opposed to the new Fisheries Act. In their view the act was written by bureaucrats for bureaucrats and effectively removes any legal rights that they feel they have as fishermen. They are calling upon the government to scrap Bill C-45.

[Petitions, June 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present to the House today signed by many people from the province of British Columbia.

The petitioners call on the government to withdraw the new Fisheries Act, Bill C-45. The petitioners are requesting this of the government because they feel that there has been insufficient input from both recreational and commercial fishermen. They want this bill withdrawn and rewritten.

[Petitions, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to present a petition from concerned fishermen in British Columbia. Their concern is the wording of the Fisheries Act.

The petitioners claim that they have been denied honest input into the drafting of the act and the amendments. They call upon the government to withdraw the bill from Parliament so that appropriate discussions can take place.

[Petitions, April 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on Parliament to withdraw from Parliament Bill C-45, the proposed new fisheries act, and calls on the minister to engage in open dialogue with fishermen before proceeding.

[Petitions, April 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first one calls on Parliament to ban terminator technology. The petitioners note that seed-saving is key to farmers' livelihoods, food security and crops' genetic diversity, and they call on Parliament to have a permanent national ban on the use of these terminator technologies.

[Arne Paul Knudsen, March 22nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on March 7, a great Canadian, Arne Paul Knudsen, passed away.

Arne was born in May 1909 in Denmark and came to Canada in 1929. His life was a kaleidoscope of adventures. He worked across the country, on farms, in the woods and on construction. He worked on ocean freighters, in China on the construction of the Manchurian railway and in Columbia gold mines.

He served in the Danish Navy and won a bronze medal for swimming in the 1936 Olympics. He fought the fascists in the Spanish Civil War and served with distinction in the Canadian army in World War II. For his heroism, President Truman awarded him the Bronze Star, while King Christian X of Denmark awarded him the Royal Knights Order.

A tireless community worker, Arne served as captain of the North Delta Volunteer Fire Brigade. In 2006 he was presented Delta's Freedom of the Municipality award.

Arne was active politically with the NDP and as a trade unionist with the Operating Engineers.

We shall never forget this most amazing and humble Canadian.

[Canada Transportation Act, February 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to be included as voting in opposition to this, as well.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 20th, 2006]

With regard to contracts let to Morrison Hershfield by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the National Research Council: (a) name the contract; (b) the title of any research paper if a paper was prepared; and (c) the dollar value of the contract for each fiscal year beginning in 1980?

[Canada Post, October 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport and the minister responsible for Canada Post.

Would the minister provide the House with an update on the difficulties facing international remailers? This is an issue of much importance to many small businesses from coast to coast.

[Petitions, October 2nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition with about 1,200 names on it from people in my riding who are concerned about the expansion of Delta Port in the riding.

The concerns of the petitioners revolve around issues of air quality, which increased truck and ship traffic will bring, the noise from the port and wildlife losses. They are especially concerned about the truck traffic that will go through our community, an issue that has not been addressed yet.