Debates of March 6th, 1996

Petitions

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to present to the House three petitions duly certified. The first deals with amendments to the Criminal Code for certain acts of violence.

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, the second petition deals with amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, the third petition deals with Bell Canada rate increases.

[Shaughnessy Cohen, Liberal, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition which I am presenting on behalf of the hon. member for Windsor West.

The petition deals with the issue of corporal punishment of children and more specifically with section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues in tabling a petition bearing 94,000 names, nearly 3,000 of which are from my riding, asking the government to take the necessary steps to allow Québec Téléphone to be granted a broadcasting license.

Social and economic logic demands that the grandfathering Québec Téléphone was previously granted be now broadened to take into account modern technology. Preventing Québec Téléphone from keeping up with technology would significantly hamper Quebec's social and economic development.

[François Langlois, Bloc, Bellechasse, QC]

Madam Speaker, on behalf of around 20,000 citizens in my riding and surrounding areas, I too present a petition asking that Québec Téléphone be granted a broadcasting license.

In order to give others a chance, I will now sit down.

[René Canuel, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am proud to join my colleagues in tabling a petition bearing 94,000 names, 4,000 of which come from my riding, demanding that the government take action to allow Québec Téléphone to be granted a broadcasting license.

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present this petition. The petitioners rightly ask the government not to increase the excise tax on gasoline in the upcoming budget.

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Madam Speaker, on behalf of my colleague, the member for Champlain, I am pleased to present a petition signed by hundreds of petitioners praying the Parliament to recommend that Québec Téléphone be grandfathered under the Broadcasting Act to allow the company to join the world of convergence and competition.

[Gérard Asselin, Bloc, Charlevoix, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is with much pride that I join my colleagues from the Bloc Quebecois and table a petition bearing 94,000 names, including 7,710 from my riding. The petitioners are asking the government to take measures in order to grant Québec Téléphone a broadcasting license.

[Bernard St-Laurent, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, 1,828 people have put their names on the 250 sheets that I table today. These people argue that the grandfathering granted Québec Téléphone under the Telecommunications Act be extended to the Broadcasting Act.

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by some 50 people from my riding who pray Parliament to ask the finance minister not to raise the tax on gasoline. The petitioners consider that they are already overtaxed since taxes represent about 52 per cent of the cost of a litre of gas at the pump and that over the last ten years, the tax on gasoline increased 566 per cent. I am pleased to table this petition.

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

Madam 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 28 constituents of Saanich-Gulf Islands and the surrounding area.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to stop the use and sale of synthetic bovine growth hormone in Canada until the year 2000, or extend the existing moratorium until health and economic questions can be answered.

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Madam Speaker, I hold in my hand the signatures of almost 7,500 people from my riding of Elk

Island who are bringing to this House a very sincere request to not increase taxes. Taxes on gasoline have gone up many times. The increase was 1.5 cents per litre last time. The petitioners are saying not to include another 2 cent per litre tax in the budget.

I am pleased to present this petition.

[Sharon Hayes, Reform, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, on behalf of 63 constituents and backed by an overwhelming feedback from many more, on this the day the government presents its budget I would like to present a petition which requests that Parliament not increase the federal excise tax on gasoline. I trust the government will heed the petitioners' sincere request.

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

Madam Speaker, I too have a petition concerning the price and the taxes on gasoline. Given that 52 per cent of the price of gasoline is composed of taxes and that taxes have increased by 566 per cent over the past decade, the petitioners request that Parliament not increase the federal excise tax on gas and that the government strongly consider reallocating its current revenues to rehabilitate Canada's crumbling highway system.

[Dave Chatters, Reform, Athabasca, AB]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to add another 4,000 names to the larger petition presented by myself and others asking the government not to further increase the excise tax on gasoline.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on budget day on behalf of my constituents. They want to remind the finance minister that he still has time to change the text of his budget. The petitioners are upset that 52 per cent of the price of gasoline is composed of taxes and that the federal excise tax on gasoline has already increased by 566 per cent in the past decade.

The petitioners request that Parliament not increase the federal excise tax on gasoline and that the government strongly consider reallocating its current revenues to rehabilitate Canada's national highways.

Questions On The Order Paper

[Paul Zed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

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

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

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Judges Act

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, for Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

moved that Bill C-2, an act to amend the Judges Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Gordon Kirkby, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to speak to the House on Bill C-2, an act to amend the Judges Act.

I wish to express my very sincere thanks to the member for Saint-Hubert and the member for Crowfoot for their approval of the amendment to the act and their facilitation in assuring its passage through the House.

As members of the House are aware, under the Constitution of Canada it is the duty of Parliament to fix and provide salaries, allowances and pensions of federally appointed judges. To assist Parliament in exercising that responsibility a process was established under the Judges Act in 1981 for the review of salaries, pensions and other benefits payable to these judges.

Every three years a commission is appointed by the Minister of Justice to enquire into the adequacy of judicial remuneration. These triennial commissions are currently under statutory obligation to report to the minister within six months of appointment. The Minister of Justice in turn is under a statutory obligation to table a report in Parliament within 10 sitting days after receiving the report.

The rationale of having such commissions is obvious. Triennial commissions provide the government on a regular basis with non-binding advice which is objective and independent in nature with respect to determining fair compensation for federal judges. The process respects and enhances the independence of the judiciary according to our constitutional traditions. The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that this independence of the judiciary is grounded on both security of tenure and financial security.

The six-month reporting period has proven to be a very short time for the triennial commission members, who serve part time, to complete their onerous responsibilities. They need to invite and receive briefs on behalf of the public from judges' groups and others. They need to publish notices in the press. They need to acquire and study highly technical information. They need to await and study written submissions. They need to conduct public hearings. They need to prepare and translate the report. All of this is within six months of appointment. This puts undue pressure on the commissioners and barely allows them the time necessary to approach the job methodically and produce a well considered report on compensation issues.

The judges' organizations, the Canadian Bar Association and others making submissions to the commission have generally found the present six-month reporting period to be insufficient. The chair of the commission which is currently under way, Mr. David Scott, Q.C., as well as the main judicial organizations and the Canadian Bar Association are in favour of extending the reporting period by six months.

Bill C-2 would do just that and nothing more. It would merely extend the reporting period for the triennial commissions from six months to twelve. The cost of this amendment would be nil. The bill would have no bearing on judges' salaries, which continue to be frozen like those of everyone else in the federal public sector.

I urge honourable members to approve the quick passage of this minor amendment to the Judges Act. I once again wish to extend my sincere thanks to the member for Saint-Hubert and the member for Crowfoot.

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I will be brief, since we have already given our consent for this bill to be pushed through the various stages as quickly as possible and since there is no disagreement. I think the House has other meaningful things to do, which is why we should focus on really significant and debatable issues.