House of Commons Hansard #42 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was family.

Topics

Foreign AffairsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

Would the hon. member please put his question?

Foreign AffairsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères, QC

-to inform us of developments. The response left something to be desired. Given the danger Mr. Sbikowski is faced with each and every day-

Foreign AffairsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

I am sorry, but the hon. member for Delta has the floor.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Reform

John Cummins Reform Delta, BC

Mr. Speaker, the stated objective of the minister of fisheries is to downsize the B.C. fishing fleet by 50 per cent.

The minister knows full well the practical effect of treaty negotiations is to reallocate half the fisheries resource. How can the minister justify asking the B.C. industry to finance its own downsizing when he is prepared to give away half its catch?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bonavista—Trinity—Conception Newfoundland & Labrador

Liberal

Fred Mifflin LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, I wish the hon. member would make up his mind. Two days ago it was 25 per cent; now it is 50 per cent. The truth of the matter is that this has been taken into consideration. Whether or not the hon. member can add, subtract or divide I have to say that the allocations will be put in place as part of the fine tuning. Those people who have to make the decisions will make the decisions on all the information that it is possible to provide them with at the time.

JusticeOral Question Period

3 p.m.

NDP

Chris Axworthy NDP Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing, SK

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice. It concerns his handling of Patrick Kelly's section 690 application.

In this House on February 4, 1994 the minister promised that an investigative brief would be prepared. He assured the House that standard procedures would be followed. Neither has happened.

Did the Minister of Justice ever intend to keep his promises? Why did he break them? Why did he change his mind and why should we believe him in the future?

JusticeOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I will overlook the provocative nature of the question in order to first acknowledge that the hon. member had the courtesy of giving me notice before he asked it, although he did not tell me how he was going to ask it.

JusticeOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

JusticeOral Question Period

3 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

I wonder if we could have the short version of the answer.

JusticeOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Liberal

Allan Rock Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, the answer is that an investigative brief is a collection of a summary of the evidence. I have done better than that in this case. I have given Mr. Kelly's lawyer all the evidence. He has had it in his office and Mr. Kelly has had it in British Columbia. They have got the evidence. They have got full disclosure. I am going to be fully briefed before I make the decision. We are going to do it in accordance with the rules.

Points Of OrderOral Question Period

3 p.m.

NDP

Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, I want to raise with the Chair the fact that there appears to have been distributed on members' desks at least two pieces of literature, at least they have been distributed in this corner. If I read it correctly, one appears to be a piece of literature in favour of Bill C-33 and the other, if I read it correctly, appears to be a piece of literature against Bill C-33. I would like to know who authorized the distribution of these.

As a rule, parties distribute things on the desks of their members and sometimes the House leaves things on the desks for members. However, I have been here a while and I do not remember my desk

ever being turned into a post office or a propaganda platform for whatever position other members may wish to advocate.

I would like the Chair to review this matter and at some point to make it very clear that people should not be doing this sort of thing. We have the right to come to an empty desk. If there are messages there from the House or from our respective whips, fine, but let us not get into this business of having junk mail on our desks when we come into the Chamber.

Points Of OrderOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Liberal

Don Boudria Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

Mr. Speaker, I fully concur with the sentiments of the hon. member that the kind of activity that was tantamount to lobbying on the floor of the House via pamphlets is unacceptable.

Earlier today I discovered a document which was unsigned and was in only one language. I removed it from the desks of Liberal MPs, as it is my job as the government whip to do so. I had no such authority to remove it from the desks of other members. As to the second document, I did not authorize it in any way and only saw it after question period started.

The two documents were not authorized by me. In the case of the first one, I personally removed it from the desks of hon. members because no such authority had been sought from nor given by me.

Points Of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

NDP

Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, on a second point of order, I would like to register my objection to the fact that a New Democratic member was not recognized for statements today despite the fact that I was rising from one minute after until-

Points Of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

I will take the issues in reverse order.

As to the second point of order, it is possibly a matter of debate and not a point of order. The chair occupants are conscious of members rising and to the best of our ability we see that members are recognized accordingly.

On the first point of order raised by the hon. member for Winnipeg Transcona who is a long time serving member of this House, he raises a very important issue. I am pleased to hear the participation and the contribution of the chief government whip.

I want to assure the House upon verification with the Clerk and his staff that no member of the House staff distributed those materials, so that in fact it would appear they were circulated and deposited by a member or members of this House.

As your Speaker I would discourage that practice and join the hon. member for Winnipeg Transcona and the hon. chief government whip in their position on this matter.

Board Of Internal EconomyOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

I have the honour to inform the House that Mr. Jim Silye, member for the electoral district of Calgary Centre, has been appointed as member of the Board of Internal Economy in place of Mr. Bob Ringma, member for the electoral district of Nanaimo-Cowichan, for the purposes and under the provisions of chapter 42, first supplement of the revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act.

Government Response To PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Fundy Royal New Brunswick

Liberal

Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary 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 eight petitions.

Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Reg Alcock Liberal Winnipeg South, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present in both official languages the first report of the Standing Committee on Transport with respect to Bill C-20, an act respecting the commercialization of civil air navigation services.

Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Fundy Royal New Brunswick

Liberal

Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I understand there have been consultations among the parties and that there is unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That the subcommittee on HIV/AIDS be authorized to send one member and a researcher to the conference on AIDS to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 6 to 12, 1996.

Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)

Does the hon. parliamentary secretary have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to.)

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Anna Terrana Liberal Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table two petitions, the first one with over 200

signatures of people from Vancouver Island who request Parliament not to increase the federal excise tax on gasoline.

The second petition is from 75 people living in the greater Vancouver area who request Parliament not to increase the federal excise tax on gasoline, and to strongly consider reallocating its current revenues to rehabilitate Canada's national highways.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Reform

Darrel Stinson Reform Okanagan—Shuswap, BC

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a petition from 732 of my constituents. They ask Parliament not to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the charter of rights and freedoms by adding the undefined phrase of sexual orientation.

These petitioners state that society does not want privileges of married couples given to same sex couples. They believe this will certainly follow if Bill C-33 is passed.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB

Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a petition from the people in my riding.

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 of sexual orientation.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Reform

Daphne Jennings Reform Mission—Coquitlam, BC

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to present petitions today on behalf of my constituents in Mission-Coquitlam asking the government to not amend the human rights act to include the undefined phrase of sexual orientation.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Reform

Chuck Strahl Reform Fraser Valley East, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have another five petitions totalling another 1,400 names on this very same topic that has already been discussed here today.

The petitioners ask the House of Commons and Parliament not to add the undefined phrase of sexual orientation to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

This is part of the ongoing list of petitions deluging my office.