Debates of Nov. 6th, 1996

Petitions

[Roseanne Skoke, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to present a petition from Canadian professional photographers in the industry of photography who are concerned that they have no copyright protection founded in Canadian law. The petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation to provide the following protection.

They ask that copyright in a photograph come into being automatically as soon as the image is fixed in a tangible medium; that ownership of the copyright in professionally created portrait photographs vests solely in the photographer and not in the person who commissioned or sat for the portrait; that copyright is a form of statutory intellectual property distinct from the photograph and sale of the photograph does not imply any transfer of the copyright interest; any assignment of the copyright must be in writing, signed by the copyright owner; and that duplication in any form of a professionally created photograph without the authorization of the photographer constitutes copyright infringement.

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

Madam Speaker, it is an honour today to finally be able to present a petition which has been signed by 27 of the constituents of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to consider the difficulty faced by seasonal farm workers in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia due to the new EI rules.

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to present this petition. It has been held up for quite some time. It is an honour to be able to present it on behalf of my constituents.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by constituents of Lambton-Middlesex, many of them from Wardsville, Newbury and Bothwell, which has been duly certified by the clerk of petitions pursuant to Standing Order 36.

The petitioners request that the House of Commons enact legislation or amend existing legislation to define marriage as a voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to each other to the exclusion of others.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions to present today on behalf of my constituents.

The first group of petitioners request that Parliament pass legislation to strengthen the Young Offenders Act, including publishing the names of young offenders, lowering the age of application and transferring serious offenders to adult court.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the second petition concerns age of consent laws. The petitioners ask that Parliament set the age of consent at 18 years to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the final group of petitioners are requesting that the Government of Canada not amend federal legislation to include the phrase sexual orientation. The petitioners fear that such an inclusion would indicate societal approval of homosexual behaviour. The petitioners believe that the government should not legitimize this behaviour against the clear wishes of the majority.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition from numerous citizens of my riding of Peterborough.

These citizens draw to the attention of the House the fact that section 327 of the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement discriminates against James Bay Crees who no longer live in James Bay, Quebec simply by virtue of their not living there. Specifically, the Mocreebec Nation who reside in northern Ontario suffer due to not having a land base, rights within the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement, or federal funds.

Therefore these petitioners request that Parliament revoke section 327 of the James Bay Northern Quebec Agreement due to its contravening the Canadian Constitution 1981. They request that the Mocreebec Nation be recognized and a land base and federal funds be allocated to them.

[John Nunziata, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Speaker, I wish to present to the House today a petition signed by several hundred Canadians calling on the government and members of Parliament to support Bill C-205 introduced by the member for Scarborough West so as to provide in Canadian law that no criminal profits from committing a crime.

Criminals are not prohibited by Canadian law from profiting from their crimes. Criminals have the opportunity today to produce videotapes, write books and to profit as a result of their crimes.

These petitioners call on the Government of Canada to take immediate action to stop people like Clifford Olson from profiting from their heinous crimes.

[John Nunziata, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Speaker, the second petition has to do with section 745 of the Criminal Code.

Section 745 allows convicted killers to apply to have their parole ineligibility reduced. The petitioners and millions of other Canadians want this government to take immediate action to stop convicted killers from applying under section 745 to have their parole ineligibility reduced so that the penalty for first degree murder becomes a minimum period of incarceration of 25 years.

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

Madam Speaker, I have a petition pursuant to Standing Order 36 which I would like to present on behalf of many Saskatchewan residents from Saskatoon, Shellbrook, Warman and Hepburn.

This petition is in response to the price gouging by gasoline companies in Saskatchewan. These people are very concerned about the fact that they are being gouged at the pumps. The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to urge the government to establish an energy pricing review commission to keep the pricing of gasoline and other energy products in check.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions today.

The first petition is from Cambridge, Ontario. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that our police and firefighters place their lives at risk on a daily basis as they serve the emergency needs of all Canadians. They also state that in many cases the families are left without sufficient financial means to meet their obligations.

The petitioners therefore pray and call upon Parliament to establish a public safety officers compensation fund to receive gifts and bequests for the benefit of families of our police officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, the second petition comes from Verona, Ontario.

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. The petitioners therefore pray and call upon Parliament to pursue initiatives to assist families who choose to provide care in the home to preschool children, the chronically ill, the aged or the disabled.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, the final petition comes Calgary, Alberta.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that the consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems or impair one's ability and specifically, that fetal alcohol syndrome or other alcohol related birth defects are 100 per cent preventable by avoiding alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to enact legislation to require health warning labels to be placed on the containers of all alcoholic beverages to caution expectant mothers and others of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36, on behalf of a whole number of constituents who are not interested in merging the GST and PST but are actually asking the Liberals to keep their promise and not proceed with the GST any longer. After all, that is what they promised and that is why people voted for the Liberals in many respects. The Liberals simply broke that promise. These people are infuriated. I suspect they are all Liberals on this petition as well. However, that is just the way it goes.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Madam Speaker, my second petition is on behalf of a number of constituents, as a matter of fact hundreds, who are worried about the government's interest in exporting CANDU reactors to China. They realize that this will upset the very delicate balance that currently exists in terms of our overseas exports. They are concerned about the abuse of human rights in that country and feel it is morally wrong to be exporting CANDU reactors with the suggestion that in the future they could be converted into nuclear weaponry. These Canadians want nothing to do with that particular process.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order today to ask the government House leader when I can expect to receive answers to my Questions on the Order Paper Nos. 4 and 52. I requested an answer to both questions within 45 days.

As of today, Q-4 has been outstanding for 253 days and Q-52 has been outstanding for 175 days. Q-4 is about public safety. It is about criminal access to firearms from the police and military. Q-4 was first placed on notice in the last session of Parliament on November 24, 1995, almost one full year ago. Even though I requested an answer within 45 days, almost a year has passed and the government still refuses to provide me and my constituents with the information we need to hold the government accountable for its actions.

I am concerned that the government will call an election before it gives us an answer. I as a member of Parliament cannot function and do my job if the government continues to hide information that should be on the public record and that it should have full access to.

I am going to ask the Speaker as well, can you tell me what options I have to ensure that my rights and privileges as a member of Parliament are respected in this regard?

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Treasury Board]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member has asked for information that is very complex and takes a lot of research. I am sure that he would like to get the full documentation on all the questions he has asked.

As I understand it, the papers are being processed and as soon as they are available we will have them in this House. Some information is very easy to get within the allotted time but when the member asks such convoluted questions and so many questions at a time, it takes the department a little longer to get this information for him.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)]

The hon. member also has the option to transfer those questions under a motion to adjourn the debate.

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

Madam Speaker, I would prefer that those questions remain as they are so I receive a good answer to them.

My response to what the hon. member has said is that they have told me this for months already. The fact is this information should

be on the public record and available before the legislation is even brought before the House. Therefore I cannot understand why it is not available to me.

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, I view the point of order raised by my colleague with great concern. I had raised virtually the identical issue for another question. The Speaker at that time ruled that this was a serious matter. The government did not seem to be too concerned about meeting its obligations to respond within 45 days.

I would therefore ask again, on behalf of my colleague, and reiterate and point to the Speaker's ruling of some months ago when he said that he views this issue very seriously. I would certainly hope that the government would hear my colleague's request and answer forthwith, rather than putting us off time and time again with the fact that it takes a great deal of work.

There is no indication whether it is going to answer tomorrow, next week, next month or whether it is going to take so long that we have an election in the meantime.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)]

I think your point of order has been well received.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Treasury Board]

Madam Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions For Papers

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Treasury Board]

Madam Speaker, I ask that Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.