Debates of Dec. 7th, 1994

Points Of Order

[The Speaker]

The hon. member is referring to a ruling that I made in this House with regard to the word "meanspirited". As a general rule I do not take time to explain all of the decisions I make. However, I was hoping in ruling out the word "meanspirited" to lower the tone of words being used in Parliament.

The hon. member is absolutely correct, the word does not appear as unparliamentary in any of our books we look at for words that are unparliamentary. However, from time to time words are added to it. In my judgment on the spirit in which the word was used, I thought if it were withdrawn it would make for better debate in the House.

As for the ruling made by our Deputy Speaker, this was in keeping with his responsibilities. The context of the word, the context in which it is used many times and the tone of the word sometimes make that decision for us.

With respect to my hon. colleague, I would prefer that the word "meanspirited" not be used in our vocabulary as we go back and forth. It is not my intention in any way to restrict debate in this House. I would hope that all members would give enough latitude to the Chair to see to it that at least in debate with one another we would use words where possible that are less offensive.

I thank the hon. member and I would hope that he would respect the decision we had made earlier with regard to this word.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to rise on the same point of order to reiterate what my friend has said. The words that Your Honour just used-I say this with the greatest respect-are clearly indicative of what Your Honour meant when you ruled this out of order in Question Period on November 23. Question Period is a different time when there is no opportunity for discussion. However, on two occasions since then the Deputy Speaker has chosen to state that this word is out of order because of the ruling on November 23.

While the word may be one that in certain circumstances could cause disorder in the House and may therefore not be permitted, it is one that has been used in this House for a long time. I do not understand why it is automatically out of order now whenever it is used.

I think the point the hon. member was seeking to make is while it may have been out of order in Question Period on November 23 and Your Honour has given a reason why that was so and that is accepted, to say the word is therefore unparliamentary on all other occasions is taking a word which is not a particularly nasty one when compared with the others in Beauchesne's which I could read at length that have been ruled to be unparliamentary-

[The Speaker]

Order. We are going on here. I am going to permit an intervention by the member for the Reform Party and then I would like to go from there.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I was present in the House when this incident occurred. I point out that the term "meanspirited" does indicate some motivation. I can also assure you that there was some irrational emotion by the member who used the term. I support the Speaker in his determination.

[The Speaker]

Order. The decision has been made. The Speaker who made the decision was acting within his responsibilities. In view of what has gone on with that, I would let that decision stand and I would like this matter to be closed now.

Ways And Means

[Doug Peters, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I wish to table an explanatory note, a notice of ways and means motion to amend the Excise Tax Act. I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of this motion.

Government Response To Petitions

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

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table in both official languages the government's response to 37 petitions.

Employment Equity Act

[Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Liberal, Secretary of State (Training and Youth)]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to section 9 of the Employment Equity Act, I have the great pleasure to table on behalf of the Minister of Human Resources Development, in

both official languages, the seventh annual report to Parliament on the Employment Equity Act.

It is also my pleasure to announce that the Minister of Human Resources Development will introduce shortly legislation to amend the Employment Equity Act.

Income Tax Act

[John Bryden, Liberal, Hamilton—Wentworth, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-294, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (public access to information from audits of charities and non-profit organizations).

Madam Speaker, this private member's bill calls on public access to the audits by Revenue Canada of charities and non-profit organizations which presently are not available for public disclosure.

The principle behind this is that non-profit organizations and charities are responsible to the taxpayer because they do not pay taxes. Therefore, there should be full accountability to the public. That is the intention of this bill.

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

Peacekeeping Act

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley East, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-295, an act to provide for the control of Canadian peacekeeping activities by Parliament and to amend the National Defence Act in consequence thereof.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to introduce this bill the short name of which could be called the peacekeeping act.

In recent months both the defence review and the foreign affairs review have pointed out the need to have peacekeeping criteria established in advance of peacekeeping operations.

Recent unfortunate developments in the former Yugoslavia have reinforced the necessity to establish these criteria now while our excellent peacekeeping reputation remains untarnished.

The private member's bill I have introduced today requires the government to pass a resolution in this House before a peacekeeping mission starts. The resolution would lay out the goals, the duration and the maximum cost of the mission. Once the resolution expired troops would be withdrawn or a new resolution passed to continue the mission.

A peacekeeping bill such as this would allow Parliament to ask the hard questions before peacekeeping missions began. It would also help to secure the lives of our peacekeepers.

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

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition to the House signed by Canadians from southwestern Ontario including my own riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners pray and request that Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the charter of rights and freedoms in any way that 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 of sexual orientation. I concur with this petition.

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour and privilege to table three petitions duly certified by the clerk of petitions and signed by the constituents of Lambton-Middlesex.

In the first petition the petitioners pray and request that Parliament not amend the human rights code, the human rights act or the charter of rights and freedoms in any way that would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the human rights code to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase of sexual orientation.

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Speaker, in the second petition the petitioners pray 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 that would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Speaker, in the third petition the petitioners pray 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.

[Sharon Hayes, Reform, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, I have with me today eight sets of petitions from the people in my riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam and across the province of British Columbia on the need for amendments to the Young Offenders Act.

These petitions are a follow-up on the huge outpouring of support for changes to the Young Offenders Act which was demonstrated in a rally held in my riding on September 25. These are part and only part of nearly 15,000 signatures collected from concerned Canadians.

This is an issue that will not go away. It is the responsibility of Parliament to respond to these legitimate concerns. It is with this directive that I table these eight petitions containing some 7,000 of those signatures.

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to present a petition from residents of British Columbia including many from my riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin.

The petition calls upon Parliament to refuse the justice minister's anti-firearms proposals and insist that he bring forth legislation to convict and punish criminals rather than persecute the innocent.

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition from the residents of Quesnel, British Columbia. The petition calls for Parliament to enact strong legislation against crimes of violence committed by youth.

I am happy to concur with both of these petitions.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC]

Madam Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 36 I would like to present the following petition: We, the undersigned, residents of Anjou, Montreal and the surrounding area, want to bring to the attention of Parliament the following facts: whereas senior citizens are naturally more at a loss when faced with the technology of voice mail boxes; whereas senior citizens are entitled to appropriate service, particularly as it regards their income security enquiries; therefore the petitioners pray and request that Parliament ask the government to abandon its plan to implement voice mail boxes for senior citizens. I concur with the petition, Madam Speaker.

[Jim Jordan, Liberal, Leeds—Grenville, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition that received very extensive support in my riding. It reminds the government that maintenance and use of firearms is currently heavily controlled under existing legislation in this country. It calls upon Parliament to institute legislation to protect the peaceful private ownership, maintenance and use of such firearms, including but not excluding such events as controlled hunting, sport shooting and the collecting of firearms.

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

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour of presenting four petitions.

In the first petition, the petitioners pray that Parliament act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by the born human being to the unborn human being.

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

Madam Speaker, in the second petition the petitioners pray that Parliament ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada pertaining to assisted suicide be enforced vigorously. They request that Parliament make no changes in the law which would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.

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

Madam Speaker, the third petition asks to amend the laws of Canada to prohibit the importation, distribution, sale and manufacture of killer cards in law and to advise producers of killer cards that their products destined for Canada will be seized and destroyed.

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

Madam Speaker, the fourth petition asks Parliament not to amend the human rights code or the charter of rights and freedoms in any way which would 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 of sexual orientation.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the privilege of presenting two petitions to the House. Both petitions were signed by nearly 100 of my constituents, mostly from the Lloydminster area.

The first petition wants to draw the attention of the House to the fact that the majority of Canadians believe that the privileges which society accords to heterosexual couples should not be extended to same sex relationships. They request that Parliament not amend the human rights code, 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 it in the prohibited grounds of discrimination.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Speaker, the second petition draws attention to the House that the majority of Canadians respect the sanctity of human life. They ask 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.

I would like to indicate that I support the petitioners in their request to Parliament.