Debates of May 10th, 1995

Bovine Somatotropin

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. gentleman is perhaps misinterpreting that particular phrase used in part III of the estimates.

Obviously the issue of RBST use in Canada is under investigation at the present time in two different forums. One is the established legal regulatory forum which is under the jurisdiction of my colleague, the Minister of Health. As I understand it the appropriate officials in the Department of Health have not yet arrived at any determination as to what some future decision may or may not be with respect to RBST use in Canada.

Last year a second analysis was undertaken quite apart and independent from the regulatory jurisdiction of the Department of Health. That study was initiated by the agriculture committee of the House of Commons. It held public hearings and made a number of recommendations, including the proposal that whatever the regulatory decision of the Department of Health might turn out to be that at least for a one-year period the potential use of RBST in Canada ought to be delayed.

[Some hon. members]

Time.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

We negotiated that delay with the companies. A task force has been analysing a variety of questions in the meantime. That task force report has been submitted to me. I have provided a copy of the task force report-

[Some hon. members]

Order.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Prince George-Peace River.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, I am in receipt of a letter sent to the minister of Indian affairs on March 21 by members of the Yellow Quill band in Saskatchewan. In it there are serious allegations regarding the misuse of band assets, capital project funding and housing moneys. As of February 14 the band was running a $2 million deficit. Band members have called upon the minister to uphold his fiduciary obligation and make their chief and council account for all spending.

The minister has had this letter for a month and a half and his officials have known about this problem for much longer. What has the minister done about it?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, in the absence of the minister of Indian affairs I will take the question under advisement.

Social Programs

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

As he will know, under Bill C-76 the Canada social transfer section clearly is a fundamental restructuring of Canada and of our national health care and social programs. A United Nations committee has expressed concern. I do not believe that anywhere in the very much mentioned Liberal red book was it suggested to the Canadian public that we would fundamentally adopt a Reform Party policy in transferring these programs to the provinces.

Given the fundamental restructuring that this section on the Canadian social transfer represents, would he appoint an independent commission? We have done this in the past with the Hall commission and the Macdonald commission. It could study this particular section and come back truly with an independent view of what this means for the future of Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, as has already happened a couple of times today, the premise of the question is absolutely wrong.

The fact is that the CHST enables the federal government along with the provincial governments to maintain in place a sustainable and highly progressive set of social programs.

The Canadian health and social transfer enables the federal government to keep its covenant with Canadians that there will be no residency requirement for welfare and its even greater covenant that the principles of the Canada Health Act will never be taken away from us.

International Markets

[John O'Reilly, Liberal, Victoria—Haliburton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Throughout its history Canada has benefited from periodic infusions of capital investment from countries across the globe. In recent years however, foreign investors have viewed Canadian markets with some reluctance.

Can the minister inform the House what is being done to improve the attractiveness of Canada to foreign investors?

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

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is dead on.

It is very important for Canada to maintain a good climate for investment. That means a sound balance sheet. That is why we are so pleased the budget of last February was so well received by the international markets and by Canadians.

At the same time we have to recognize that as a low inflation country for which we paid a very dear penalty we must maintain the tremendous asset of low inflation and very high productivity of our workforce.

We must congratulate the Minister of Human Resources Development for this transition from passive to active support. The new industrial policy is trade policy with the trade mission of the Prime Minister. I would congratulate my colleague the Minister for International for International Trade.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I wish to draw to your attention the presence in the gallery of a Canadian ski legend. She was a gold and silver medalist in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

Nancy Greene-Raine, you honour this House.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

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 42 petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegation

[Maurice Dumas, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as deputy chair of the Canadian Group, Inter-Parliamentary Union, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Group, Inter-Parliamentary Union.

This is the report of Canada's official delegation to the 93rd Inter-Parliament Conference held in Madrid, Spain, from March 27 to April 1, 1995.

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 76th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the selection of votable items in accordance with Standing Order 92.

Those items are Bill S-7 in the name of the hon. member for Brant; Bill C-316, the hon. member for Cambridge; Bill C-319, the hon. member for Edmonton Southwest; Bill C-267, the hon. member for Québec; Motion No. 382, the hon. member for Mississauga South and Motion No. 381, the hon. member for Nanaimo-Cowichan.

This report is deemed adopted on presentation.

While I am on my feet I also have the pleasure to present the 77th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

It is about the form used in the Journals of the House of Commons for the Speaker's tabling of supply bills for royal assent.

Petitions

[Benoît Tremblay, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am submitting two petitions signed by over 500 people from my riding and from neighbouring regions.

Given that seniors are generally at a loss when faced with voice mail technology, and considering that they need personalized service, especially regarding their enquiries on guaranteed income, these petitioners demand that the government suspend implementation of voice mail for seniors' services and maintain the personalized services that they so require, as the Bloc Quebecois has already demanded several times.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have 15 petitions.

The first five petitions contain 324 signatures. 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.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the next five petitions contain 456 signatures.

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

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the final five petitions contain 475 signatures.

The petitioners pray and request 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 or of homosexuality, including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition that has been circulating across Canada.

This particular petition has been signed by a number of petitioners from the Lethbridge, Alberta area. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that managing the family home and caring for preschool children is an honourable profession which has not been recognized for its value to our society.

They also state that the Income Tax Act discriminates against families that make the choice to provide care in the home to preschool children, the disabled, the chronically ill and the aged.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to pursue initiatives to eliminate tax discrimination against families that decide to provide care in the home for preschool children, the disabled, the chronically ill and the aged.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions that I am pleased to present in the House today on behalf of the constituents of Yorkton-Melville.

The petitioners state that Canadians are already overburdened with taxation due to high government spending. As the Saskatchewan government is on the verge of balancing its budget, allowing Saskatchewan taxpayers to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the petitioners request that Parliament reduce government spending instead of increasing taxes.

Those who signed these petitions urge the government to please consider this.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have another 52 petitions which are all very similar. They are signed by over 1,200 people from the provinces of Ontario and Saskatchewan, including my riding of Yorkton-Melville.

All the people who signed these petitions are concerned about the public safety of all Canadians and feel that the existing controls on law-abiding, responsible firearms' owners are more than enough to ensure that safety.

They therefore call on Parliament to support laws that will severely punish all violent criminals who use weapons in the commission of a crime, to support new Criminal Code firearms control provisions that recognize and protect the right of law-abiding citizens to own and use recreational firearms, and to support legislation that would repeal or modify existing gun control laws which have not improved public safety or have proven not to be cost effective or have proven to be overly complex so as to be ineffective or unenforceable.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise again to present another petition in this course of action undertaken on behalf of constituents who wish to halt the early release from prison of Robert Paul Thompson.

The petitioners I represent are concerned about making our streets safer for our citizens. They are opposed to the current practice of early release of violent offenders prior to serving the full extent of their sentences.

The petitioners pray that our streets will be made safer for law-abiding citizens and the families of the victims of convicted murderers.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House petitions from my constituents of Langley and Abbotsford, British Columbia.

The first petition asks Parliament to ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide be enforced vigorously and that Parliament make no change in the law which would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.