Debates of June 3rd, 1996

Unemployment Insurance Act

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-292, an act to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would amend the Unemployment Insurance Act to allow a group of workers, hairdressers, the ability to become self-employed under conditions other than full ownership of a hairdressing establishment.

Under the current system, hairdressers who rent chairs and who normally would be considered self-employed are not allowed to withdraw from the unemployment insurance system like other self-employed individuals. This requires them to submit considerable sums of money to a system that does not serve their needs. Further, many individuals do not have the capital to set up a hairdressing establishment but would rather work for themselves on a smaller scale.

This bill intends to allow these individuals to be self-employed without the major constraints put exclusively on this category of workers by the current UI regulations.

Through the introduction of several criteria, this bill creates a definition of self-employment so that the current law would better serve the needs of this group of Canadian workers.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

National Debt Limit Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-293, an act to limit the national debt of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a very short bill to limit the national debt of Canada which, as you know, has been growing by leaps and bounds for the last 20 odd years. It seeks to set an absolute limit of $625 billion on the national debt, calculated by the accumulation of deficits and surpluses since Confederation.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Statutory Program Evaluation Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-294, an act to provide for evaluations of statutory programs.

Mr. Speaker, I am reintroducing a bill that was part of the last session of this Parliament.

This bill is primarily designed to improve the effectiveness of government by requesting that all programs be evaluated on a periodic basis of every seven to ten years based on four fundamental criteria.

What exactly is the program designed to do? How well is the program delivering what it was designed to do? Is it doing it efficiently? Is there a better way to achieve the same results? Programs that spend over $250 million would be required to be approved by the Auditor General of Canada.

The bill is designed to improve the efficiency of government. I hope that since program evaluation has been demonstrated to save all kinds of money, we would have all-party support of this bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Petitions

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a 43-page petition and another one, which is 30 pages long. The petitioners pray and urge Parliament not to amend the Constitution as requested by the Government of Newfoundland and to refer the problem of educational reform in that province back to the Government of Newfoundland for resolution by some other non-constitutional procedure, without touching the Canadian Constitution.

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have other petitions requesting that Parliament refrain from passing into law any bill extending family status or spousal benefits to same sex partners.

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I want to present to the House a petition signed by 32 residents of Charlottetown, Labrador from the Pentecostal community opposing the amendment of Term 17.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present a petition signed by individuals from the province of New Brunswick.

The petitioners are concerned Canadians who are opposed to the approval of the synthetic bovine growth hormone known as BST, the drug injected into cows to increase milk production.

They call on Parliament to take the necessary steps to keep BST out of Canada through legislating a moratorium or stoppage on BST use and sale until the year 2000 and, as well, an examination of the outstanding health and economic questions through an independent and transparent review.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is my duty and honour to present a petition which I have received and have had certified by the clerk of petitions on behalf of 75 residents of Ontario and Quebec.

The petitioner call on Parliament to consider the advisability of extending benefits or compensation to veterans of the wartime

merchant navy equal to that enjoyed by veterans of Canada's World War II armed services.

[Clifford Lincoln, Liberal, Lachine—Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by several hundred residents of Quebec, which reads as follows: "Your petitioners request that Parliament take the necessary measures to guarantee that their properties and territories will remain within the Canadian Confederation, and make its intention to do so known to the PQ government prior to any unilateral declaration of independence and/or the next referendum on separation".

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition signed by 99 people which reads: "We pray the Prime Minister and the Parliament of Canada declare and confirm immediately that Canada is indivisible, that the boundaries of Canada, its provinces, territories and territorial waters may be modified only by (a) a free vote of all Canadian citizens as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or (b) through the amending formula as stipulated in the Canadian Constitution".

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I also have two petitions similar to those presented by the hon. member for Lachine-Lac-Saint-Louis.

The first one is 201 pages long, while the second one has two pages.

It asks Parliament that the necessary measures to guarantee that our properties and territories will remain within Canadian Confederation and make its intention to do so known to the PQ government prior to a unilateral declaration of independence and/or the next referendum on separation.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the hundreds of people that went through snow and other elements to gather this petition and thank them for their support in trying to keep our country united.

[George Baker, Liberal, Gander—Grand Falls, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have eight petitions here, but since they all have the same prayer I will present them as one.

The prayer of the petitions signed by these 8,900 people is that the Pentecostal Assemblies were recognized in 1987 by this House and the proposed amendment to Term 17 threatens their continued existence as viable Pentecostal schools. The people have not been afforded the opportunity to make full representation to the Parliament of Canada, so they ask that the whole thing be put aside and that we not pass the proposed amendment in its present form.

[Herb Grubel, Reform, Capilano—Howe Sound, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition signed by over 50 of my constituents in Capilano-Howe Sound.

The petitioners urge the government not to 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 homosexuality, including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase of sexual orientation.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting two petitions from the people of Calgary North urging the federal government to establish a pedophile registry.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by 175 Canadians from in and around my riding. While it is a little late as far as the House is concerned I think their voices should be heard.

The petitioners pray and request that Parliament oppose any amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act or any other federal legislation that will provide for the inclusion of the phrase sexual orientation.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of many concerned citizens of New Westminster-Burnaby.

The petitioners pray 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 homosexuality. Although Bill C-33 has passed through the House of Commons these wishes should not be regarded as redundant, as the majority of Canadians would concur.

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour and duty to present to the House a petition bearing 1,940 signatures mainly from the city of Calgary but also from other parts of Alberta and Canada asking that Parliament refrain from closing CFB Calgary and moving the Lord Strathcona's Horse, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and First Service Battalion. The petitioners ask that for reasons of both sound economics and military history.

I point out to the government that I have presented petitions on this subject with a total over 10,000 signatures.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I present two petitions which have been circulating across Canada.

The first petition comes from Didsbury, Alberta. The petitioners 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 society.

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

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes form Islington, Ontario.

The petitioners bring to the attention of the House that consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems or impair one's ability, and specifically that fetal alcohol syndrome and 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.

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present petitions from my constituents dealing with changes to the human rights act.

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another petition deals with changes to the Young Offenders Act.

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another petition deals with changes to the Criminal Code relating to sentencing of drunk drivers.

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another petition deals with the subject of changes to the MP pension plan.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

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

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed