House of Commons Hansard #30 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
Eugène Bellemare Liberal Carleton—Gloucester, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Industry.
In accordance with its order of reference of October 24, 1997, the committee has considered Bill C-11, an act respecting the imposition of duties and customs.
Eugène Bellemare Liberal Carleton—Gloucester, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Industry.
In accordance with its order of reference of October 29, 1997 the committee has considered Bill C-10, an act to implement a convention between Canada and Sweden, a convention between Canada and various other countries.
The purpose of this bill is to avoid double taxation and to prevent fiscal evasion with respect to income tax. We have agreed to report it without amendment.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 10th report later this day.
Joe McGuire Liberal Egmont, PE
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food relating to Bill C-4, an act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
Reed Elley Reform Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-277, an act to declare a referendum on the restoration of the death penalty as a sentencing option and to amend the Referendum Act.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to introduce a bill calling for a binding national referendum on the reinstatement of capital punishment as a sentencing option for those convicted of first degree murder.
In doing so I thank my colleague, the member for Dewdney—Alouette, for seconding the bill and all other members who have jointly seconded the bill. The bill represents Reform Party policy on the issue and allows Canadians to decide this matter for themselves. Indeed for too long, in fact forever, Canadians have been shut out of this debate.
Critics will try to misrepresent this initiative by saying the bill is about reinstatement of the death penalty when it is clearly not. The bill is about having a referendum on the matter and it is from that perspective I hope members of the House will engage in debate on the matter.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-278, an act to provide for the expiry of gun control legislation that has not proven effective within five years of coming into force.
Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing my firearms law sunset act. I would like to thank the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough for seconding the bill.
The Minister of Justice tabled 62 pages of firearms regulations last week and they suffer the same problem as the bill that authorized them. No one knows if this bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo and hundreds of millions of tax dollars will improve public safety, reduce the criminal use of firearms or save lives. Nor can anyone in this government tell law-abiding gun owners or taxpayers what it will do if it does not improve public safety.
The firearms law sunset act solves this uncertainty for gun owners and—
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I believe the standing orders say that members introducing private members' bills describe the bill. They do not give a speech about it.
Criminal CodeRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
The hon. parliamentary secretary is quite correct. The introduction of a private member's bill may not enter into the realm of debate.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, I will describe the bill.
My sunset law would require the automatic repeal of any gun control measure five years after it is implemented, unless it can pass a public safety test administered by the Auditor General of Canada which proves that the measure is cost effective and achieves its stated objective.
I believe all laws in this House must be cost effective and achieve their stated goal.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Jason Kenney Reform Calgary Southeast, AB
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-279, an act to promote the observance of two minutes of silence on Remembrance Day.
Mr. Speaker, this is a simple bill which is designed to formalize a custom which unfortunately is on the wane in Canada. It would invite the people of Canada to observe two minutes of silence on Remembrance Day in their places of work, in schools, in any possible way.
It is a bill that is designed on a similar piece of legislation which was recently passed in the Ontario legislature and designed on a motion that passed the Westminister parliament a couple of years ago.
It would not require anything of the Canadian people but simply to call their attention to the importance respecting this longstanding tradition of observing these moments of silence in respect of our war dead.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in.
Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?
Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the following member be added to the list of associate members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs: Don Boudria.
Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?
Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Joe McGuire Liberal Egmont, PE
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition on behalf of the constituents of Prince Edward Island who are concerned about the explicit nudity in public places which is becoming quite frequent. There are laws in Canada to protect children against this form of nudity in all media, but currently there are no laws protecting children in public places.
Therefore the petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation to amend the Criminal Code, specifically sections 173 and 174, the indecent act and public nudity provisions, to clearly state that a woman exposing her breasts in a public place is an indecent act.
Rahim Jaffer Reform Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition to the House calling for the elimination of Bill C-8 and any other offending legislation that unduly regulates the use of herbal supplements.
Conservative estimates show that over six million Canadians rely on herbal supplements. These people do not want their health care choices limited and they do not want to see the cost of these products increase as the result of unnecessary costly government regulations.
I applaud the Minister of Health on his recent decision to seek advice from a committee for amendments to the Food and Drugs Act that would affect these products.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three brief petitions to present today.
The first one has to do with the family. The petitioners would like to 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 our society. They also point out that the Income Tax Act does not take into account the cost of raising children in its provisions.
The petitioners therefore pray and call upon Parliament to pursue initiatives to eliminate this discrimination against families who choose to provide direct care in the home to preschool children.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with alcohol misuse.
The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that the consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems and particularly that fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol related birth defects are 100% preventable by avoiding 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 risks associated with alcohol consumption.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the final petition has to do with our everyday heroes on the front line, police officers and firefighters.
The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that our police officers and firefighters are required to place their lives at risk on a daily basis and that the public mourns the loss when one of them loses their life in the line of duty.
The petitioners therefore 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 who lose their lives in the line of duty.