House of Commons Hansard #157 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ports.

Topics

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Roger Gallaway Liberal Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition signed by approximately 1,600 residents of my riding which calls on the federal government through the health protection branch to stop regulating herbal products as if they were drugs and to clearly recognized them as food.

In brief, the petitioners want the consumer to have choice and not give that discretion to the bureaucracy. I fully concur with their concerns.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Graham Liberal Rosedale, ON

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to present four petitions with signatures gathered from concerned citizens throughout Toronto.

The first petition calls on the federal government to join with the provinces to upgrade the national highway system.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Graham Liberal Rosedale, ON

The second petition with over 200 signatures from the organization Don't Tax Reading Coalition requests that the GST not be applied to reading materials.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Graham Liberal Rosedale, ON

Madam Speaker, the second petition requests members of Parliament to support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Graham Liberal Rosedale, ON

Madam Speaker, the fourth petition I would like to present requests that members of Parliament cancel the sale of Candu reactors to China and withdraw all financial and technical assistance to China for nuclear reactor technology.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Nelson Riis NDP Kamloops, BC

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Chase, Adams Lake, China Valley, Pritchard, Monte Lake, Monte Creek, Pinantan, Paul Lake, Westwold and Duck Range.

These 11,000 petitioners are concerned about the high price of gasoline, diesel fuel and propane and are asking the federal government to consider regulating these commodities as a utility.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Nelson Riis NDP Kamloops, BC

I wish to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Savona, Deadman's Creek, Cherry Creek, Logan Lake, Blackloam, Knutsford, Kamloops, Rose Hill, Louis Creek, Black Pines, Darfield and Squaam Bay who are concerned about the GST as it is applied to reading material. They ask the federal government to back off from taxing people who like to read.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Nelson Riis NDP Kamloops, BC

Madam Speaker, I present a petition signed by 200 residents of the great city of Kamloops who are concerned about the need for funding for a national highway system. They ask that more money from the federal excise tax on gasoline go to a fund to upgrade our national highways.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Reform

Ed Harper Reform Simcoe Centre, ON

Madam Speaker, I have one petition to present on behalf of the constituents of Simcoe Centre.

The petition concerns age of consent laws. The petitioners ask that Parliament set the age of consent at 18 years to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Tony Ianno Liberal Trinity—Spadina, ON

Madam Speaker, I wish to present two petitions on behalf of my constituents.

First, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

The petitioners believe that the continuing existence of nuclear weapons poses a threat to the health and survival of human civilization in the global environment. On behalf of my constituents I would like to present this one which I support.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Tony Ianno Liberal Trinity—Spadina, ON

In the second petition, Madam Speaker, the petitioners and the Don't Tax Reading Coalition of Toronto call on the Government of Canada to remove the GST from books, magazines and newspapers.

The petitioners believe that applying the 7 per cent GST to reading material is unfair and wrong. They believe that literacy and reading are critical to Canada's future and that removing the GST from reading material will help promote literacy in Canada.

On behalf of my constituents I humbly submit these petitions with my full support.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Reform

Werner Schmidt Reform Okanagan Centre, BC

Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents who urge Parliament to remove the GST from books, magazines and newspapers.

They ask the Prime Minister to carry out his party's repeated promise to remove the federal sales tax from reading.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions. The first petition is from Regina, Saskatchewan. It is with regard to police officers and firefighters lost in the line of duty.

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

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Madam Speaker, the second petition comes from Ottawa, Ontario. 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 who choose to provide care in the home for preschool children, the chronically ill, the aged or the disabled.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Madam Speaker, the final petition and the most important to me personally is from Petawawa, 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 alcoholic beverages to caution expectant mothers and others of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Reform

Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB

Madam Speaker, I have petitions from my constituents. The first petition asks Parliament to remove the provocation defence.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Reform

Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB

Madam Speaker, the second petition relates to health foods.

The petitioners request that Parliament stop the process whereby the health protection branch can arbitrarily remove those health foods from Canadian use.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Dan McTeague Liberal Ontario, ON

Madam Speaker, I also have the honour of tabling two petitions, and I will do so now.

The first petition deals with the issue of taxing reading material.

It is from the Canadian coalition Don't Tax Reading. It is one I support.

It urges Parliament to remove forthwith the GST from books and all reading material. It is signed by 150 people from the Durham region.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Dan McTeague Liberal Ontario, ON

Madam Speaker, the second petition comes primarily from the Mississauga South area of this great country. It calls on Parliament to amend the Divorce Act to reflect the desire by families, in particular grandparents, to have access to their grandchildren.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by about 130 people from the southwestern region, largely from the Woodstock area.

These petitioners believe that Bill C-7, the proposed controlled drugs and substances act, to be unconstitutional. They believe it does not serve the interests of Canadian consumers and that amalgamating the Narcotics Control Act with parts of the existing Food and Drugs Act puts food plants and medicinal herbs in jeopardy.

The petitioners also believe Bill C-7 to be ambiguous and unclear in its wording, leaving room for the health protection branch to use it against free access to classic traditional herbal remedies. They feel that the wishes of consumers are not being considered by either the Minister of Health or the health protection branch, and that this bill is being passed arbitrarily without consulting the electorate.

The petitioners therefore call on Parliament and the parliamentary subcommittee to either drop the bill or to implement wording that would clearly protect the traditional use of classic herbs and the right of Canadians to the herbal remedies of their choice.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Bloc

Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup, QC

Madam Speaker, I have the honour of tabling a petition signed by about 40 residents of Trois-Pistoles, Pohénégamook and Dégelis, in my riding, who are asking Parliament to pass legislation that would impose a ceiling, based on the Bank of Canada rate, on the interest rates applying to credit cards issued to consumers by banks and large retailers. In fact, this proposal has already led the banks to change their policies.

Questions Passed As Orders For ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Fundy Royal New Brunswick

Liberal

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

Madam Speaker, if Question No. 79 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed As Orders For ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed As Orders For ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Question No. 79-

Questions Passed As Orders For ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Bloc

Stéphan Tremblay Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC

Can the Minister of Human Resources Development give me a complete and up-to-date statement on Youth Service Canada including, for each province, ( a ) a description of the projects funded, ( b ) the names of the organizations concerned, ( c ) their addresses, ( d ) the amount of their grants and ( e ) the number of participants per project?

Return tabled.