Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege for me to rise today to present 45 petitions signed by 1,233 concerned Canadians primarily from the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario.
The petitioners draw to the attention of Parliament that over 100,000 therapeutic abortions are performed each year in Canada at a cost of over $50 million per year. Since Canadians deserve a say in how scarce health dollars are spent and which health care procedures they consider essential, these petitioners call on Parliament to support a binding national referendum to be held at the time of the next general election to determine whether or not Canadians are in favour of federal government funding for abortion on demand.