Debates of April 6th, 1995

Points Of Order

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to draw to the attention of the House a remark I made in Hansard yesterday. I had a wrong number and I want to correct the mistake on page 11553.

I said that we are going to be spending $9 billion on interest payments for every dollar that is cut. What I meant to say was, for the $9 billion in cuts that were made, we will be spending about $9 billion in interest as well. For every dollar cut, there will be an extra dollar in interest payments on the deficit.

[Ron Irwin, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in question period I indicated that a charge had been laid in the Stoney matter. This was based on information that I had received. In fact, the charge has not been laid at this stage. It would be inappropriate for me to indicate if and when the RCMP is laying the charge. That information would better come from the RCMP itself.

Government Response To Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table in both official languages the government's response to 44 petitions.

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 72nd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of standing committees.

With leave of the House, I intend to move for concurrence in the 72nd report later this day.

Royal Canadian Mint Act

[Herb Gray, Liberal, for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-82, an act to amend the Royal Canadian Mint Act.

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

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 72nd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to.)

Petitions

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Comox—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present two petitions from constituents in my riding of Comox-Alberni.

The first petition contains 607 signatures and deals with section 241 of the Criminal Code. Section 241 makes aiding, abetting or counselling a person to commit suicide an indictable

offence. The petitioners request that Parliament not repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and to uphold the Supreme Court of Canada decision of September 30, 1993 to disallow assisted suicide euthanasia.

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Comox—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition containing 303 signatures, the petitioners request that Parliament hold a national binding referendum on capital punishment.

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Vegreville, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour on behalf of some constituents of the Vegreville constituency to table a petition in the House today. The 26 petitioners are requesting Parliament to continue to give the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly powers in marketing wheat and barley for export.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am presenting a petition signed by petitioners in the Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville area. These petitioners call on Parliament to reduce the deficit by cutting wastage and reducing the overall expense of every government department by at least 5 per cent.

[Charles Hubbard, Liberal, Miramichi, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have a petition signed by more than 400 constituents in a very rural and remote area on the westerly side of Miramichi. They feel they are being discriminated against by the Unemployment Insurance Act.

They petition Parliament to reform the UI boundaries, which affect their remote and isolated communities in a negative way. They believe they are not being treated fairly under that commission.

[Bob Speller, Liberal, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also rise, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present a number of petitions from constituents in my riding who have concerns about the present firearms legislation.

These constituents call on the government to support laws that will severely punish violent criminals, which of course the minister has, but to also 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.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I too would like to present petitions. One is from the constituents of Beaver River, Redwater, Thorhild, Radway, and the Waskatenau area, who are calling upon Parliament to be very careful about the Canadian Human Rights Act, to make sure there is not the inclusion of sexual orientation.

They are saying that because the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act would provide certain groups with special status, rights and privileges and that they would be granted solely on the basis of sexual behaviour, that inclusion would infringe on the historic rights of Canadians, such as the freedom of religion, conscience, expression and association.

These people are humbly calling upon Parliament to oppose any amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that provide for the inclusion of the phrase "sexual orientation".

I present those with pride as the member for Beaver River.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present in the House today four petitions from my riding.

The first petition deals with a request for the Government of Canada not to amend the Human Rights Act to include the undefined phrase "sexual orientation". Refusing to define this statement leaves interpretation open to the courts, a very dangerous precedent to set. Parliament has a responsibility to Canadians to ensure that legislation cannot be misinterpreted.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on the subject of Bill C-68, the gun control bill. The petitioners believe the target for all gun control laws in the Criminal Code of Canada must be the criminals who are a danger to the public safety, not law-abiding, responsible firearm owners.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is on the subject of child care. The petitioners believe current federal government child care policies are intrusive and discriminate against many families. They believe parents should have the freedom to make the choices about what type of child care is best for their families.

The petitioners request Parliament to oppose any legislation that will increase child care expenditures.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is on the subject of drinking and violence. The petitioners were shocked by the recent Supreme Court decision, and

they believe all individuals must be held fully responsible for their actions, even while under the influence of alcohol.

I concur with these petitions.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition signed by over 800 people in my riding of Red Deer. The citizens express their concern that they are already overburdened with taxation due to high government spending. Therefore, the petitioners humbly pray and request that Parliament reduce government spending instead of increasing taxes and implement a taxpayer protection act to limit federal spending.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not want to take too much time. We do have 15 minutes. I have a couple of other petitions. One is on the Young Offenders Act, signed by a number of people from St. Paul, Saddle Lake, St. Vincent, and a number of other places across Beaver River. They want an act that is serious enough to deter young people from committing crimes and tough enough to provide real justice.

The Young Offenders Act in its current form is not meeting the objectives. These people are calling upon Parliament to make sure we have a really forceful Young Offenders Act, in addition to the Criminal Code.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition on CBC programming. The petitioners are concerned about Canadian broadcasting, that the CBC is playing programs like "Kids in the Hall". They do not fulfil CBC's mandate. These people are concerned about this particular program, as well as others. They are saying that these kinds of incidents in programs are becoming more and more frequent.

They are asking Parliament to enact legislation that would provide very specific standards of acceptable conduct and content for CBC television programs.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36. The petitioners point out that many violent offenders and sex offenders are being paroled prematurely or are being released without proper treatment and rehabilitation. They believe that those people convicted of dangerous and sexual offences ought to remain incarcerated until they have successfully undergone treatment and can demonstrate unequivocally that they have been completely rehabilitated. They are asking that the government take whatever steps are necessary to assure this.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following question will be answered today: No. 102.

Question No. 102-

[Cliff Breitkreuz, Reform, Yellowhead, AB]

For each federal riding, what has been the total amount of financial assistance provided by the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec from October 25, 1993, to date?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec]

Contributions approved under the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec programming for the period October 25, 1993 to November 1, 1994 inclusively are listed on the following chart.

It does not include any contributions made under the federal-provincial-municipal infrastructure works program and the industrial and tourism agreements, which fall under the purview of other federal departments.

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.