Debates of Dec. 12th, 1994

Government Response To Petitions

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 11 petitions.

Employment Equity Act

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development and Minister of Western Economic Diversification]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-64, an act respecting employment equity.

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

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

When shall the bill be read the second time?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I wish to inform the House that it is my intention to propose this bill be referred to a committee before second reading pursuant to Standing Order 73(1).

As a result of the broad legislative scope this implies this reference before second reading will empower the committee to fulfil the provisions of section 13 of the Employment Equity Act. It also shows further innovation on the part of this government to turn over a bill after first reading to a committee so it can help in the actual drafting of the bill.

Petitions

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is my intent to table petitions that have been collected across

metro Toronto by students in a number of schools following the incident at Brockton High a few weeks ago. Members will recall that led to the severe injury of two teachers.

In this petition the petitioners are calling upon Parliament to strengthen existing laws regarding guns, to implement longer and mandatory sentences for people convicted of crimes involving the use of guns and finally that the flow of illegal weapons coming into Canada be halted.

[Bernie Collins, Liberal, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to bring forward today. The first one is in support of the Canadian Wheat Board and is signed by constituents of Souris-Moose Mountain.

[Bernie Collins, Liberal, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Madam Speaker, the second one is from a number of gun owners in my riding who have asked me to present a petition on their behalf.

[Bernie Collins, Liberal, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Madam Speaker, the third petition contains over 6,000 signatures from people right across Saskatchewan. They are concerned about the postal subsidy and the impact it will have on libraries right across Saskatchewan.

I am pleased to present these petitions.

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, York—Simcoe, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have petitions from constituents who express concern regarding the inclusion of sexual orientation as a grounds of discrimination within the Canadian Human Rights Code.

I would like to clearly state for the record that I do not share their point of view but feel that I must present their petition to fulfil my obligation as a member of Parliament.

I have another petition which requests that Parliament amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

I would like to clearly and unequivocally state for the record that I strongly support this petition. The fundamental principle underlying the petition is to ensure that people are treated equally in Canada regardless of their sexual orientation. We should not tolerate discrimination in any form in Canadian society.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table four petitions with the House today.

The first asks that Parliament ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide be enforced vigorously and that Parliament make no changes in the law which would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Madam Speaker, the second petition requests that Parliament act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to unborn human beings.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Madam Speaker, the third petition asks Parliament not to enact any further gun control legislation, regulations or orders in council and that Parliament refuse to accept the anti-firearms proposals of the Minister of Justice. They insist that he bring forth legislation to convict and punish criminals rather than persecute the innocent.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to present a petition from residents in my riding of Bruce-Grey. It calls upon Parliament to introduce legislation amending the Criminal Code of Canada so that intoxication cannot be raised as a general defence.

The petitioners request that Parliament recognize that the Supreme Court decision on the Daviault case is offensive and seriously jeopardizes the safety of Canadians by encouraging those accused of indictable or dual procedure criminal offences to raise drunkenness as an excuse for their behaviour.

The petition was organized and presented to me by three students, Percy Smith, Shirley Rands and Bertha Mank, in the law class of Mr. Peter Mussen.

[Herb Grubel, Reform, Capilano—Howe Sound, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise to present the following petition on behalf of my constituents of Capilano-Howe Sound.

The petitioners request that this House ensure the present provisions of the Criminal Code prohibiting doctor assisted suicide be enforced and that Parliament make no changes in support of euthanasia.

[Ronald J. Duhamel, Liberal, St. Boniface, MB]

Madam Speaker, these petitioners are from all walks of life and of all ages. They point out that seniors have contributed and continue to contribute to the quality of life of Canadians.

There are growing numbers of seniors. Programs such as pensions and health care will experience additional growing

demand. Seniors need comfortable housing, social and community involvement as well as affordable medical care.

These petitioners ask that when governments consider changes to programs that they do not forget the contributions of seniors to our country and to our quality of life.

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present today thousands of signatures of Canadians from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. These petitioners note that tobacco products are clearly linked to many forms of cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases, that the use of tobacco products is directly responsible for some 38,000 premature deaths of Canadians annually and that tobacco can therefore rightly be termed a hazardous product.

Therefore the petitioners call upon Parliament to remove the exemption for tobacco under the Hazardous Products Act.

[Jack Iyerak Anawak, Liberal, Nunatsiaq, NT]

(English)

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am tabling today a petition signed by 420 people from the Northwest Territories, Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to take action to increase employment in the mining sector, promote exploration, rebuild Canada's mineral reserves, sustain mining communities and keep mining in Canada.

[Len Hopkins, Liberal, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have petitions signed by many people from communities across the Ottawa Valley requesting that Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way which would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.

Questions On The Order Paper

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

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

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Shall all questions stand?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House resumed consideration of Bill C-44, an act to amend the Immigration Act and the Cityzenship Act and to make a consequential amendment to the Customs Act, as reported (with amendment) from the committee; and of Motion No. 20.

Immigration Act

[Osvaldo Nunez, Bloc, Bourassa, QC]

Madam Speaker, before the Question Period, I was about to talk about the power given immigration officers to seize international mail.

I must add that Bill C-44 contains no provision that would allow someone to dispute the legality of any irregularly conducted seizure of goods. This section has been denounced by almost all organisations and persons who appeared before the committee.

On the other hand, clause 18 of Bill C-44 would permit the assumption that someone is guilty of intending to violate the law or regulations. It proposes a reverse burden of proof. In other words, evidence that someone has imported or exported documents that could serve some fraudulent purpose would be sufficient to prove the intent to violate the law and regulations, except if shown otherwise. Therefore, this clause goes clearly against the principle of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees that any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The legality of this clause must be questioned. Ultimately the Supreme Court will have to rule on the constitutionality of this disputed provision. This drastic clause paves the way to abuse. Opening the mail without the consent of the addressee is a violation of the most fundamental rights.

We must not forget that some refugees come to Canada with false papers. After all, these refugees are fleeing an unfair, dictatorial or cruel political system. If this clause came into effect, these refugees would be found guilty even before being admitted into the country. Moreover, we wonder if the minister has thought about the effectiveness of this provision, considering that, for instance, 259 mail inspection centres have been closed and the number of inspectors has been drastically reduced.

If the minister realized that he has only six inspection centres left for the whole of Canada, he would know that his proposal is ineffective. It seems to us that the minister would probably have been more hesitant to introduce this bill, and particularly this clause, if he had consulted with the organizations involved, namely Customs and Excise. Considering the lack of prelimi-

nary consultations, which was the case with Bill C-44, the minister could have got some information about the real and unfortunate situation mentioned by some witnesses from Customs and Excise, who came before the committee and complained about the lack of resources in that organization.

What we see instead is a clause reflecting an attitude which prevails throughout this bill, a bill that was written without any consultation and is only a response to political pressure. For all these reasons, I support Motion No. 20.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Is the House ready for the question?

[Some hon. members]

Question.