Debates of Feb. 4th, 1997

Vacancy

[The Speaker]

I have the honour to inform the House that I have received a communication notifying me that a vacancy has occurred in the representation, namely, André Caron, member for the electoral district of Jonquière, in the province of Quebec, by decease. It is my duty to inform the House that, pursuant to paragraph 28(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act, I have addressed a warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer on Monday, February 3, 1997, for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill this vacancy.

Government Response To Petitions

[Paul Zed, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 15 petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Bob Speller, Liberal, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the pleasure to present the report of the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning a trip to Australia which took place in November 1996.

I want to thank all hon. members in this House for all their help relating to this trip.

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 50th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of the Standing Committees on Finance and Transport, and the associate membership of the Standing Committee on Finance. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 50th report later this day.

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 50th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to.)

Petitions

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure of submitting a petition signed by people in my riding and the surrounding area.

The petitioners are calling for an indivisible Canada, in that the boundaries of Canada, its provinces and territories, as well as its territorial waters, must not be modified.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present three petitions from people in my riding. Two of the petitions deal with the upgrading of highways and the national highway system in particular.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition deals with the GST on reading materials.

I am pleased to present these petitions on behalf of the petitioners in my riding.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today.

The first petition comes from Whitehorse, Yukon. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that our police and firefighters place their lives at risk on a daily basis as they serve the emergency needs of all Canadians. They also state that in many cases the families of officers who lose their lives in the line of duty are often left without sufficient financial means to meet their obligations.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to establish a public safety officers compensation fund to receive gifts and bequests for the benefit of families of police officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. 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.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to pursue initiatives to assist families that choose to provide care in the home for preschool children, the chronically ill, the aged or the disabled.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition comes from Kanata, Ontario. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that the consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems or impair one's ability, and specifically, that fetal alcohol syndrome or 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.

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 Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-23, an act to establish the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and to make consequential amendments to other acts, as reported (with amendments) from the committee.

Nuclear Safety And Control Act

[The Deputy Speaker]

There are 19 motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper for the report stage of Bill C-23.

Motion No. 2 is essentially identical to a motion tabled in committee. Consequently, pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(5), it will not be selected.

The motions will be grouped for debate as follows:

Group No. 1: Motion No. 1.

Group No. 2: Motions Nos. 3 and 6.

Group No. 3: Motions Nos. 4 and 5.

Group No. 4: Motions Nos. 7 and 8.

Group No. 5: Motion No. 9.

Group No. 6: Motions Nos. 10 to 15.

Group No. 7: Motions Nos. 16 and 17.

Group No. 8: Motions Nos. 18 and 19.

The voting patterns for the motions within each group are available at the table. As indicated, the Chair will remind the House of each pattern at the time of voting. I will now propose Motion No. 1 to the House.

[Marlene Cowling, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources]

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That all motions at report stage of Bill C-23 be deemed to have been read and seconded at this time and a recorded division requested and deferred for each motion.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to.)

[René Canuel, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

moved:

Motion No. 1

That Bill C-23, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 5 and 6 on page 2 with the following:

""Minister" means the Minister of the Environment or such member of the Queen's"

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those in favour will please say yea.