Debates of Nov. 5th, 1997

Committees Of The House

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Toronto Centre—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

In accordance with its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), your committee has considered the fifth and seventh reports of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade presented to the House during the second session of the 35th Parliament, entitled respectively “Ending Child Labour Exploitation, a Canadian Agenda for Action on Global Challenges” and “Canada and the Circumpolar World Meeting the Challenges of Co-operation into the 21st Century” and has concurred in the findings of these two reports.

In accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government provide a comprehensive response to these reports.

Mr. Speaker, this may seem rather unusual. It is a rare procedure that reports presented in the last House after an election are re-presented. Our committee is of the view that these reports are extremely important and therefore want to re-present them to the House so we can get the government's response.

[Gurbax Malhi, Liberal, Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of some committees.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the seventh report later this day.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding its order of reference from the House of Commons of Thursday, October 23, 1997, in relation to supplementary estimates A for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, in regard to Vote 5a under Parliament (House of Commons).

The committee reports the same.

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

The committee has considered Bill C-8, the Canada-Yukon Oil and Gas Accord Implementation Act, and reports it back to the House without amendment.

Privacy Act

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-275, an act to amend the Privacy Act.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is to vest the privacy commissioner with the power to determine whether personal information should be disclosed by a government institution under subsection 2(1) of the Privacy Act. The power is currently exercised by the head of such an institution, namely a cabinet minister.

This bill will ensure that ministers cannot hide behind the Privacy Act for political reasons.

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

Criminal Code

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-276, an act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children).

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a bill today, the purpose of which is to repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Section 43 allows corporal punishment of children by parents and teachers.

I believe that section 43 contravenes the charter of rights and freedoms and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We hear a lot about societal violence and abuse of children. This section of the Criminal Code legally sanctions corporal punishment which leads to the physical and emotional injury of children.

It is high time that this section of the Criminal Code was repealed to make it clear that this ancient law no longer has a place in a society that upholds and values the rights of children.

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

Committees Of The House

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present petitions today.

I have another three petitions with a total of 1,090 signatures asking Parliament to amend the Criminal Code regarding sentencing for those convicted of sex offences. The petitioners mention a variety of ways in which they think we could tighten up the Criminal Code to make it safer for Canadians.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the next two petitions with regard to Bill C-41 contain 61 signatures.

They ask that all violent offenders are excluded from conditional sentencing. I am happy to support that.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the next two petitions, containing another 208 names, ask parliament to increase the penalties for those convicted of joyriding.

It would be my pleasure to present my private member's bill on that very subject at the end of regular business today.

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Carleton—Gloucester, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present three petitions.

In the first, the petitioners are asking that the phrase sexual orientation not be included in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Carleton—Gloucester, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition urges the federal government to join with provincial governments to make the national highway system upgrading possible.

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Carleton—Gloucester, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the last petition, the petitioners call on the government to eliminate the GST on books and periodicals.

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which has been signed by almost 80% of the residents eligible to vote in the town of Hudson.

They urge parliament to make clear and present a commitment to honour and protect the Canadian territorial status of the town of Hudson pursuant to the expressed will of its residents as herein presented and demonstrated by the local results of any future provincial referendum on separation.

I would like to pay tribute to Mrs. Thompson, who is the initiator of this petition. She is in the gallery and has worked very hard and diligently to keep our country united. For that I salute her.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of concerned constituents of Brandon—Souris, more particularly the town of Killarney, Manitoba.

It has to do with the abolition of nuclear weapons. It requests parliament support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention that will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

As it seems the House has done such a wonderful job on land mines, I think it is now time to go up one more stage and accept the petition on the abolition of nuclear weapons.

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I present two petitions on behalf of my constituents.

In the first the petitioners are concerned that the possible removal of section 43 of the Criminal Code would strengthen the role of bureaucracy. They petition to affirm the duty and responsibility of parents to raise their children according to their own conscience and beliefs. They want to protect section 43 of the Criminal Code.

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with regard to the United Nations convention on the rights of the child and the fact that not all provinces support that move on the part of the government.

They petition support for Motion No. 300 which would recognize the fundamental rights of individuals to pursue family life free from undue interference from the state and furthermore recommend the fundamental right and responsibility of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

It is with great honour that I present these two petitions.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today calling on the government to end the legal approval of corporal punishment of children by repealing section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today. The first ones has to do with the family.

The petitioners would like to bring 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. They also point out that the Income Tax Act does not take into account the real costs of raising children.

The petitioners therefore pray and call upon parliament to pursue initiatives to assist families who choose to provide care in the home to their preschool children.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the issue of alcohol misuse.

The petitioners would like to bring to the attention of the House that the consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems, particularly fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol related birth defects which are 100% preventable by avoiding alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The petitioners therefore pray and call upon parliament to mandate the labelling of alcoholic products to warn expectant mothers and others of the risk associated with alcohol consumption.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition has to do with our everyday heroes, police officers and firefighters.

The petitioners would like to bring to the attention of the House that police officers and firefighters are required to place their lives at risk on a daily basis.

The employment benefits they receive often provide insufficient compensation to the families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty. They also point out that the public mourns those losses.

Therefore the petitioners pray and call upon parliament to establish a public safety officers compensation fund for the benefit of families of police officers, firefighters and other public safety officers killed in the line of duty.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to present a petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36, containing well over 12,000 signatures. All the petitioners are from the Kamloops constituency.

They call upon the government to do away with section 745 of the Criminal Code, the section which in a sense does not mean that a life sentence is a life sentence. It means it is only a shortened sentence and it allows criminals like Clifford Olson and so on to make appeals. Thousands of people from my constituency are saying that this does not seem right at all and should be repealed.

I have another petition that has to do with section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada. That is the section that permits people to violently beat their children. I suppose we could put it that way.

The petitioners feel that it is not right for parents to inflict physical pain on children at young ages. When they are determining their values and the basic morals of society it is not right for parents to inflict pain on children for disciplinary purposes and goes against the spirit of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They are asking for a repeal of section 43.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a whole list of truckers from the Kamloops constituency.

They call upon parliament to develop a national highway system upgrading program, using infrastructure money to make sure Canada's highway system is in first rate condition from coast to coast to coast.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, another set of petitioners are concerned about the unfair tax system in Canada presently.

They point out that it is unjust, unfair, biased and a disaster, to put it mildly. They consider it to be so haywire that it needs a complete overhaul.

They call for a cost benefit analysis for every tax exemption to ensure, whatever the cost is, that the people of Canada, in particular the taxpayers of Canada, are getting the best bang for their dollar.