Debates of Sept. 19th, 1994

Petitions

[Francis Leblanc, Liberal, Cape Breton Highlands—Canso, NS]

It is my honour to rise pursuant to article 31 of the Standing Orders to present a petition on behalf of numerous constituents who urge Parliament to ensure that the present provisions in the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicides be enforced vigorously and that Parliament make no change in the law which would sanction or allow the aiding and abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I too have the honour to present a petition which is signed by hundreds of Canadian citizens from Kingston, Ontario, from Quebec, Nova Scotia and my own constituency which calls upon Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to ensure the right of all Canadians to die with dignity by allowing people with terminal or irreversible and debilitating illness the right to the assistance of a physician in ending their lives at a time of their choice subject to strict safeguards to prevent abuse, and to ensure that the decision is free, informed, competent and voluntary.

[Lee Morrison, Reform, Swift Current—Maple Creek—Assiniboia, SK]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my honour to present the following petition from residents of the east end Saskatchewan district in my constituency.

Whereas except in police states there is no evidence that the incidence of criminal or suicidal misuse of firearms within any given socioeconomic environment is impeded by restrictive legislation, whereas law-abiding Canadian citizens are already overburdened by unnecessary and ineffective gun control legislation, wherefore the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon Parliament to desist from passing additional restrictive legislation with respect to firearms or ammunition and to direct its attention to the apprehension and adequate punishment of those who criminally misuse firearms or other deadly weapons.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 and on behalf of residents of the riding of Bruce-Grey I would like to table three petitions, two having to do with the rights of the unborn.

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

My third petition concerns amendments to the Human Rights Act.

[Dale Johnston, Reform, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, under Standing Order 36 it is my privilege to present a petition which deals with sexual orientation. My constituents have signed this petition praying that the Parliament of Canada not amend 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.

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I consider it my duty as representative of the constituents of Simcoe North to present the following petitions. Four hundred and fifty-four petitioners from my riding request that Parliament take measures to protect the rights of the unborn child and another 392 petitioners ask that euthanasia not be made legal.

[Bob Ringma, Reform, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have two duly executed and signed

petitions representing the views of some of my constituents which I would like to present to the House.

The first petition calls on the government to enforce the existing provisions of the Criminal Code prohibiting assisted suicide. It also asks that no changes be made to those provisions which would sanction or allow assisted suicide.

[Bob Ringma, Reform, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, calls on the government to maintain the status quo with regard to same sex relationships.

On behalf of those concerned constituents, I am pleased to table these petitions in the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 and duly certified by the Clerk of Petitions I wish to table two petitions signed by constituents of Lambton-Middlesex.

In the first the petitioners call upon Parliament to act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code of Canada.

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

In the second petition, Mr. Speaker, the petitioners request that Parliament retain the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide or euthanasia.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of constituents in Calgary North I would like to present a petition to this House requesting that Parliament not amend any legislation to sanction same sex relationships or to make the undefined sexual orientation prohibited grounds for discrimination.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 5, 8, 20, 31, 32, 52, 58, 59, 60 and 65.

Question No. 5-

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

What was the size of both public and private infrastructure spending from the years ending 1989 until 1993, for Canada as a whole, and by provinces, and how many workers are employed per million dollars worth of infrastructure spending, both directly and indirectly?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Public and private infrastructure spending for Canada and each province for the years 1989 to 1993 inclusive has been obtained from Statistics Canada. The current dollar amounts by province are set out in Table 1.

There are no survey measures of the direct and indirect employment impacts. However, rough estimates have been derived using Statistics Canada's input-output model: The overall Canada-wide calculated estimate is 14 jobs per million dollars of spending on infrastructure.

Question No. 8-

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden, SK]

Does the government plan to implement the recommendation on page 90 of the Report of the Auditor General of Canada, 1993, under the section "Observations on Tax Revenue, Departments of Finance and National Revenue", to clarify the regulation on the resource allowance income tax provision?

[David Walker, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance]

Litigation on the interpretation of the resource allowance provision concluded only when the Supreme Court of Canada denied the government leave to appeal in July 1992. On July 23, 1992 draft regulations were released by the Department of Finance that clarified the issues dealt with in the litigation. These regulations were released in draft form in order to permit consultations with industry and with other government departments.

Once promulgated, these regulations will be effective from July 23, 1992, the date of their release. Further draft regulations

stopping abuse of the resource allowance through the use of partnerships were released on March 18, 1993. Consultations on both sets of draft regulations have been held with industry, Revenue Canada and the Department of Justice. Every effort will be made to have these draft regulations finalized and promulgated in the near future.

Question No. 20-

[Dale Johnston, Reform, Wetaskiwin, AB]

With regard to the Participaction program, ( a ) how long has it been in operation, ( b ) what are its components, ( c ) what is its annual budget and its annual advertising budget?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

a) Initiated by the Government of Canada, Participaction started 22 years ago, in September, 1971, as a non-profit organization.

b) This information should be requested directly from Participaction.

c) Participaction is an autonomous non-profit organization. Questions regarding its budget should be requested directly from the organization.

Health Canada contributed $650,000 to Participaction for the 1993-94 fiscal year for its annual public services announcements campaign which comprised its total advertising activities.

Support from Health Canada is for: the production and delivery of physical activity messages to the 3,327 media outlets across Canada; educational products such as videos, newsletters, posters and leader resource packages; the management of participation events such as Canada's Fitweek involving over 5,000 community events and over two million Canadians.

Question No. 31-

[Tom Wappel, Liberal, Scarborough West, ON]

For the years 1983 and 1993 (or the nearest year for which statistics are available), how many deaths in Canada, including as per cent of total deaths, were caused by the following: cancer; heart disease/stroke; diabetes; AIDS and AIDS-related complications; any others accounting for 10% or more of total deaths?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Question No. 32-

[Tom Wappel, Liberal, Scarborough West, ON]

For the years 1983 and 1993 (or the nearest year for which statistics are available), how much money did the government contribute, in real dollars and as a percentage of total contributions, to research and/or education for each of the following: ( a ) cancer, ( b ) heart disease/stroke, ( c ) diabetes, ( d ) AIDS and AIDS-related complications ( e ) any others accounting for 10% or more of total deaths?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

The following tables describe the level of funding by the government to the four specified diseases. Please be advised that there are no other diseases that represent 10 per cent or more of total deaths. The data are split into the three directorates that are involved. 1983 and 1993 figures are not available for all the diseases in all the directorates. In the situation that a year's values are not available, the closest available year's figures are given.

Question No. 52-

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

For the last five years, ( a ) how many Canadian Forces members have filed an application for a redress of grievance, ( b ) what is the mean length of time to process a redress from date of filing to final resolution, and ( c ) what percentage of redresses are decided in favour of the applicant?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

a) No statistical records are kept of grievances at levels subordinate to National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ). In the last five years, however, grievances received at NDHQ for consideration by the chief of the defence staff, minister or governor in council were as follows:

1989-259 1990-341 1991-361 1992-424 1993-366 1994-108 (to end April)

b) The length of time between the original submission and the final decision varies from several days to several years depending upon the level at which a reply satisfactory to the griever is given. Therefore, the mean time for grievances cannot be determined since no statistics are kept on those grievances that do not reach NDHQ.

c) It is not known what percentage of all grievances are decided, in whole or in part, in favour of the applicant, since such statistics are not kept for grievances not recieved at NDHQ. Of those received at NDHQ, the aurterly percentage granted in favour of the applicant, in whole or in part, during the last five years, was as follows:

Question No. 58-