House of Commons Hansard #84 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was wildlife.
Daphne Jennings Reform Mission—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition on behalf of my constituents asking the government to amend the Divorce Act to grant grandparents access to grandchildren.
At this time I am receiving calls pretty well daily from across the country from grandparents who are under stress because they do not have access to grandchildren. I hope all sides of the House will work hard to amend this injustice.
Raymond Lavigne Liberal Verdun—Saint-Paul, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to table a petition signed by over 2,800 Verdun residents who want their post office to remain open.
That petition follows another one on the same issue, which was tabled last March 17.
My constituents enjoy the professional service provided to them at that post office, where the Canadian flag flies proudly.
Chuck Strahl Reform Fraser Valley East, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present to the House three petitions calling on the government to retain the existing laws that prohibit the aiding and abetting of suicide and euthanasia.
A total of 75 constituents have signed these petitions which state physicians in Canada should be working to save lives, not to end them.
I want my constituents to know that I concur in their view that Parliament should keep and enforce the present laws regarding doctor assisted suicide.
Len Hopkins Liberal Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition of several hundred names signed by residents of Pembroke, Petawawa, Chalk River, Deep River, Stonecliffe and many other areas.
Mr. Frank Cirella, the store owner who sponsored this petition, has been robbed three times, each time by young offenders.
The petitioners want the law to provide for the release of names of young offenders. They want the lowering of the age limit to allow prosecution to meet the severity of the crime. They feel that the law must be greatly tightened up in order to provide for the proper punishment of young offenders.
Since this petition was signed the new legislation relating to young offenders has been tabled in the House of Commons.
Val Meredith Reform Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand before the House and introduce a petition on behalf of some members of my constituency who are asking that this Parliament not repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and to uphold the Supreme Court of Canada's decision of September 30, 1993 to disallow assisted suicide or euthanasia.
I wholly concur with this petition and submit it to this House.
Ovid Jackson Liberal Bruce—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to table a number of petitions on behalf of my constituents.
The first one is asking Parliament to act immediately to extend the protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by the born to unborn human beings.
Ovid Jackson Liberal Bruce—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is asking Parliament to 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 and abetting of suicide to achieve passive euthanasia.
Ray Speaker ReformLethbridge
Mr. Speaker, I present two petitions, one with 849 signatures and the other with 236 signatures.
The petitioners request that Parliament not amend the human rights code or 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.
On behalf of these citizens I present these petitions and I also support their point of view.
Jesse Flis Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I present a petition on behalf of a number of constituents of Parkdale-High Park.
The petitioners humbly pray and call upon the Government of Canada to intervene immediately in the decade old national ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The petitioners report that basic human rights of the Tamil people are violated by Sri Lankan security forces and that economic sanctions imposed on the
northern province of Sri Lanka for the last three and half years have led to severe shortages of essential items such as food, medicine and fuel.
The petitioners therefore urge the Government of Canada to bring about an unconditional ceasefire in Sri Lanka through the good offices of the United Nations; second, to further bring the parties to the conflict to the negotiating table; third, to suspend forthwith all foreign aid to the Sri Lankan government and if necessary impose sanctions until there is a cessation of hostilities and human rights violations.
Jim Abbott Reform Kootenay East, BC
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition with 62 signatures. The Criminal Code of Canada, section 241, states: "Anyone who counsels a person to commit suicide or aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years".
The purpose of the petition is to request that the House of Commons not change that particular section of the Criminal Code. I would like my constituents to know that I concur with this petition and I am proud to present it.
Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am presenting three petitions on behalf of some of my constituents.
One calls upon the government to amend the Criminal Code to protect unborn children.
Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON
Mr. Speaker, my next petition requests the government to prohibit assisted suicide.
Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is one which opposes same sex benefits.
Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Speaker, I stand, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to table a petition. I am pleased to present this petition on behalf of 40 of my constituents, all from the town of Three Hills, Alberta, who wish to draw the following to the attention of members in this House. Whereas the majority of Canadians respect the sanctity of human life and whereas human life at the preborn stage is not protected in Canadian society, the petitioners ask 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. I support this petition.
Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. The first one contains approximately 250 signatures from people all across southern Ontario and draws to the attention of the House the very great need for the protection of witnesses and for the ability of the state to help to relocate witnesses and people who are able to help in the prosecution of crimes.
The petitioners go on to request that this House enact Bill C-206, which I have had the honour to put before the House, at the earliest opportunity so as to provide a statutory foundation for a national witness relocation and protection program.
Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough West, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns violent crime and young offenders and the petitioners request that Parliament recognize and address the concerns raised in the petition, in particular to amend the Criminal Code of Canada and the Young Offenders Act and to provide heavier penalties for those convicted of violent crime. I am pleased to note that our government has moved in precisely that direction.
Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough West, ON
Mr. Speaker, at the request of a colleague I am presenting on behalf of some of the citizens of Victoria, British Columbia a petition which prays and requests 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, including amending the Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.
Murray Calder Liberal Wellington—Grey—Dufferin—Simcoe, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition: "We, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon Parliament to maintain the present exemption on the excise portion of ethanol for a decade, allowing for a strong and self-sufficient ethanol industry in Canada".
Mary Clancy Liberal Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, I rise, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present two petitions brought forward by constituents in the riding of York South-Weston that asks the Parliament of Canada 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, if destined for Canada, will be seized and destroyed.
(Questions answered orally are indicated by an asterisk.)
Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Kingston and the Islands Ontario
Liberal
Peter Milliken LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker
Shall all questions be allowed to stand?
The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-35, an act to establish the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and to make consequential amendments to other acts, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mary Clancy LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I believe I have three minutes but I would like to wind up, particularly since hon. members of the third party were so anxious to hear more of my speech before we broke for Question Period. I did not want to disappoint them.
In conclusion, this bill is, as was stated by the minister and by others earlier, basically a housekeeping bill but it is a very important bill. It sets up the Department of Citizenship and Immigration as a department standing on its own, not in the realm of public security, but in the realm of nation building.
We are here in this government to fulfil our red book promises. We believe that a great way to fulfil those promises is through the method of immigration. We know that setting up this department in the manner to which the minister has alluded and in the manner the legislation sets up will be a good thing for Canada. We are in the business of building this nation to make it as strong and united from coast, to coast, to coast as we can.
I support this bill with great hopes for the future of our great country.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, I would like to get one item clarified on where the Department of Citizenship and Immigration stands with regard to criminals who are non-citizens in our country.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I am honoured to be here as an MP and an immigrant who received his citizenship not too many years back. I consider it a privilege to have been selected by my constituency to represent these people.
One thing that is quite concerning in the hearts of the individuals in Wild Rose reverts to the case of Charles Ng in which we kept this individual in the country for a number of years, an extremely costly venture, millions of dollars I understand. We also recently had a conviction in the city of Calgary by another non-citizen who was considered to be here illegally and was a corrupt policeman I believe in his country of origin. He was convicted of murdering a policeman in my riding.
Having visited the Kingston penitentiary recently I talked to a number of inmates who are non-citizens. Drumheller, Bowden in my riding, federal institutions, have a great number of non-citizens. One of the inmates who was a non-citizen stated that he purposely came to Canada because he found it easier to operate his particular drug ring in this country than anywhere else on this continent.
I hear these kinds of things. What I am concerned about is the fact that we do have a number of non-citizens, serious criminals who are now confined and others who are awaiting indictment. Would the Department of Citizenship and Immigration support the idea of deportation of non-citizens who are convicted of serious crimes?