Debates of Feb. 27th, 1995

Petitions

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 30 individuals, nine of whom are from the constituency of Wild Rose. The 21 remaining individuals come from throughout Alberta.

The petition states: "Your petitioners call upon Parliament to act quickly to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to adopt all necessary measures to recognize the fully equality of same sex relationships in federal law."

I present this today on their behalf. I am opposed to this idea.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have several petitions to present today, two of which relate to tax increases and the opposition of my constituents to any move by the government to increase taxes.

Altogether I have 48 sheets of names opposing tax increases. I heartily concur.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition on behalf of constituents who are opposed to the extension of same-sex benefits. I am pleased to offer the petition with my complete support.

[Osvaldo Nunez, Bloc, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a first petition on behalf of 262 residents of my

riding of Bourassa and the greater Montreal area who object to retirement age being moved from 65 to 67.

This petition was signed by many seniors from Montréal-Nord and a large number of FTQ workers. These petitioners argue that every Canadian citizen contributes to superannuation and therefore has a legitimate claim to a pension upon reaching 65 years of age, which is already a lot.

[Osvaldo Nunez, Bloc, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to present a second petition. It concerns registered retirement savings plans. The 126 petitioners object to the proposed new tax on RRSPs, as such plans are the only way for Canadians to secure a comfortable retirement. Just hours before the Minister of Finance tables his budget, this proposed tax could jeopardize the financial security of thousands of Canadians and Quebecers. Needless to say I strongly support both petitions.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am presenting several petitions today on behalf of my constituents of Prince George-Peace River.

The first petition requests that Parliament oppose any legislation that would directly or indirectly redefine family, including the provision of marriage and family benefits to those who are not family as defined in the petition.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition requests that Parliament provide a remedy, to intervene and bring forward a national public registry of past and present sexual offenders to better protect the children of our communities.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition prays that Parliament amend the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to unborn human beings.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition requests that current laws regarding assisted suicide be enforced and no changes be made to the law which would sanction or allow suicide or euthanasia.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition I have to present today asks Parliament not to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality by amending legislation to include the undefined phrase sexual orientation.

[Jag Bhaduria, Liberal, Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table two petitions signed by the constituents of Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville.

The petitioners call on the government to declare 1995 as a tax freeze year to show leadership to all Canadians, not to increase the tax burden on middle and low income working Canadians and to reduce the deficit by cutting wastage and by reducing the overall expenses of every government department by at least 5 per cent.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. Two are on the same topic, asking that the privileges which society accords to heterosexual couples not be extended to same sex relationships.

I personally am pleased to support those petitioners.

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

Mr. Speaker, the next petition may be a little redundant, but perhaps the minister can accept it as encouragement to move on. Its petitioners express concern at the recent court decision allowing extreme drunkenness as a defence against serious crime.

I also support that petition and support the minister in his efforts to look after that major problem in our legal system.

[Jack Frazer, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is my duty and honour to rise in the House to present a petition, duly certified by the clerk of petitions, on behalf of 50 constituents of Saanich-Gulf Islands and surrounding area.

The petitioners call on Parliament to oppose any amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which provide for the inclusion of the phrase sexual orientation.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions that are identical. The petitioners ask that Parliament support laws that will severely punish all violent criminals who use weapons in the commission of a crime.

Second, the petitioners support new Criminal Code firearms control provisions which recognize and protect the right of law-abiding citizens to own and use recreational firearms.

Last, the petitioners support legislation which will repeal and modify existing gun control laws which have not improved public safety or have not proven to be cost effective or have

proven to be overly complex so as to be ineffective and/or unenforceable.

I concur with and support these petitioners.

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today. A total of 436 petitioners from the riding of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt call on Parliament to reduce government spending instead of increasing taxes and implement a taxpayer protection act to limit federal spending.

I concur with my petitioners.

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today from my constituents in New Westminster-Burnaby.

The petitioners wish to inform the government that they are already overburdened with taxation due to high government spending. They feel that the government will increases taxes in this afternoon's budget.

Therefore they pray and request that Parliament reduce government spending instead of increasing taxes and implement a taxpayer protection act to limit federal spending.

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I also present two other petitions on behalf of those in my riding and in the general area.

These petitioners request that Parliament amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation as a basis for protection against discrimination and to fully recognize relationships based on financial and emotional dependency and same sex relationships.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions today.

The first one is signed by over 2,500 people. The citizens express concern that they are overburdened with taxation due to high government spending and that the federal government is considering tax increases in the next federal budget.

Therefore the petitioners humbly pray and request that Parliament reduce government spending instead of increasing taxes.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by 4,888 people from my riding.

The petitioners say that the control of law-abiding citizens and responsible gun owners is more than enough to ensure public safety, and the current and proposed laws criminalizing certain firearm activities are not necessary.

The petitioners humbly pray and request that Parliament support laws that will severely punish all violent criminals who use weapons in the commission of a crime, that Parliament support new Criminal Code firearms control provisions which recognize and protect the right of law-abiding citizens to own and use recreational firearms.

Finally, they request that Parliament support legislation that will repeal and modify existing gun control laws which have not improved public safety or have not proven to be cost effective.

Questions On The Order Paper

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. On February 20, 1995 I brought a point of order pursuant to Standing Order 39 regarding a question that I placed on the Order Paper on September 30, 1994.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands was gracious enough to respond to my request. He indicated that I would have the answer to my question by the end of last week. It is 150 days now since I have placed my question on the order paper with no result.

Also, with all due respect to the member for Kingston and the Islands who chastised me for not going to the Library of Parliament for the information, may I tell the hon. member that the annual reports to which he referred me are bordering on useless they are so vague.

Once again I would like to place these questions on the Order Paper for 1992 and 1993: What was the total amount of funds received by individuals and groups from the Canada Council? Who were these individuals? For what specific projects did they receive funding? How much did they receive?

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec-Est, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a serious problem. I also placed a question on the Order Paper on October 19, 130 days ago. This question had two parts: a) and b). Finally, last Friday, after a little more than a hundred days, I received an answer to the first half of my question. You can see my problem.

I wonder if there is any hope of getting the second part of my question answered. I find this somewhat unfortunate because, frankly, the information requested in that part is simpler, shorter, yet more important to me. Can I appeal to someone to ask for some justice and get this answer?

Would the hon. member be so kind as to answer the question regarding federal government properties in Quebec?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I will recognize the hon. parliamentary secretary first on the two points of order just raised, and then to answer questions on the Order Paper.

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

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the first point of order that was raised by the hon. member for Calgary Southeast, I indicated last week that I hoped I would have an answer by the end of the week and I am still optimistic. It obviously was not last week, but as soon as an answer is available I will provide the hon. member with an answer.

As to her allegation that reports to the Canada Council are vague, I have had occasion to look at the reports and have read them from time to time. My recollection is that there are substantial lists and no vagueness about them. They simply say who got grants. Perhaps the hon. member regards that as vague. Her question does ask who received grants. I would have thought that there was a pretty good source in those annual reports. I urge her to have a second look.

In any event, I will do my best to provide an answer for her at an early date.

With respect to the hon. member for Québec-Est, my recommendation is that he go through that box of materials I tabled in the House on Friday in response to his question.

I cannot say that I looked at all 1,200 pages before I tabled the documents, but I think he will find the answer in there. If he does not, I will take his representation as one I am prepared to raise with the minister involved. I will see if the additional information can be provided to the hon. member with dispatch.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I wonder if the parliamentary secretary might also make the usual observation that he does on these occasions.