House of Commons Hansard #158 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was wheat.
Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary 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 22 petitions.
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Banff National Park management plan.
Roger Simmons Liberal Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Health.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), your committee has agreed to adopt the report on preventive strategies for healthy children. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests a comprehensive response to this report within 150 days.
In presenting the report let me acknowledge the fine work of all members of the committee, representing all three parties in this House and thank them sincerely for their diligence in what we believe to be an important contribution to the issue entitled "Towards Well-Being: Strategies for Healthy Children".
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, in my capacity as chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, I have the honour to present the eighth report of that committee.
Pursuant to order made Thursday, February 20, 1997, the committee has considered Vote 30 under Finance in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998 and reports the same. A copy of the relevant minutes of proceedings, which includes this report, is being tabled.
Herb Gray Liberalfor the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-95, an act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal organizations) and to amend other acts in consequence.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Alfonso Gagliano Liberalfor the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-96, an Act to amend the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act and the Canada Shipping Act in order to implement the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.
(Motion deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Labour and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-97, an act to amend the Labour Code (Part II) in respect of occupational health and safety and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-406, an act to amend the Criminal Code, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the Immigration Act, to provide for new offences relative to the spread of HIV and AIDS and to require mandatory testing of inmates of a penitentiary and immigrants for sexually transmitted diseases in order to reduce the spread of the disease.
Mr. Speaker, every bill I present in the House starts with a sad story and my criminal transmission and mandatory testing for HIV and AIDS bill is really no different.
In September 1992, Margot Blackburn from Dunham, Quebec was raped in a church by a convict who was on a day pass from a prison.
In 1994 Mrs. Blackburn presented a 50,000 signature petition to the justice minister who responded by putting criminal rights ahead of victims rights and refused to amend the law to force rapists to undergo AIDS tests. Mrs. Blackburn has described the last five years as hell on earth.
My bill should give Mrs. Blackburn and all victims some hope that this travesty of justice can be reversed. It introduces a number of measures to help control the spread of HIV, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases by creating new offences for the criminal transmission of HIV and AIDS, introducing mandatory HIV tests for 13 designated criminal offences, requiring regular HIV testing of prison inmates, creating a health focused prison for inmates who test positive and, by adding HIV and AIDS to the tests required by immigrants and refugees.
The bill puts the rights of victims ahead of criminal rights. It places the health and safety of prison guards ahead of prisoners' rights. It also will stop the spread of HIV and AIDS, improve the health and safety of Canadian citizens and save lives.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Shaughnessy Cohen Liberal Windsor—St. Clair, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of a number of constituents in the county of Essex, the county of Kent, the county of Lambton and of course, the city of Windsor.
The petition is with respect to the issue of pay equity in the federal public service.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions today.
The first petition comes from St. John's, Newfoundland. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that police officers and firefighters place their lives at risk on a daily basis as they serve the emergency needs of all Canadians. They also state that on many occasions the families of police officers and firefighters killed 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 the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 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.
John Cummins Reform Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition prepared by the students at the alternate high school in Ladner, British Columbia. I applaud them for their interest in the affairs of this House.
The petition states: "We the residents of the municipality of Delta, British Columbia draw the attention of the House to the following: that there is escalating youth unemployment and alienation leading to more crime and suicide each day; that there is a lack of motivation largely due to youth unemployment leading to more drug and alcohol abuse; and that job finding programs which exist are either not easily accessible, not readily available to high school youth or overly directed at a select group of participants.
Therefore your petitioners call on Parliament to support community based job finding programs for youth like Delta Youth Services".
Brenda Chamberlain Liberal Guelph—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by 87 citizens of Guelph-Wellington.
These constituents call on the government, particularly the minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, to immediately suspend negotiations on social housing with the province of Ontario and to resume negotiations only if the minister proceeds under publicly declared principles established with the input of co-operative housing stakeholders.
Bob Wood Liberal Nipissing, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of petitions I would like to present this morning. One is signed by thousands of residents of my hometown of North Bay, Ontario.
The people of North Bay humbly pray and call on Parliament that there be no further downsizing after 242 jobs are lost over the next 18 months at 22 Wing. Also, the petitioners request that 22 Wing and Squadrons 21 and 51 stay in North Bay, that the government announces the retention of the air base before the next election, that the prototype computer system for air surveillance comes to North Bay in 1998, that the permanent Canadian location site for the new surveillance system remains in North Bay, and there be greater community consultation before any further assets or jobs are terminated, including the underground site.
Bob Wood Liberal Nipissing, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the pleasure to present a petition.
Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada in my riding of Nipissing humbly pray and ask the government to guarantee that Treasury Board representing the employer negotiates in good faith, including open and honest bargaining practices; to guarantee that it does not abuse its power by legislating any part of the collective agreement negotiated and signed by both Treasury Board representing the employer and the Public Service Alliance of Canada representing the employees; to guarantee that the pay equity issue be resolved before the next election; and to guarantee that this settlement will not result in further job cuts.
The petitioners request that the petition be read and supported by a democratically elected member of Parliament in the House of Commons prior to the next federal election.
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Waterloo, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions to the House.
The first one is signed by 99 of my constituents. The petitioners call upon Parliament to maintain the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada which prohibit assisted suicide and to vigorously enforce those provisions.
They also request that Parliament not change the law in any way which would allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Waterloo, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by 52 of my constituents. The petitioners call upon Parliament to urge the federal government to join with the provincial governments to make national highway system upgrading possible, as is being done in the United States and Mexico.
Brent St. Denis Liberal Algoma, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by approximately 100 citizens of my riding of Algoma, mostly from Elliot Lake and Blind River.
The petitioners are concerned that 30,000 nuclear weapons exist on earth at the present time. They quote former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali as follows:
The most safe, sure and swift way to deal with the threat of nuclear arms is to do away with them in every regard.
Inasmuch as Canada is a part of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons agreement, the petitioners believe that we should pursue negotiations in good faith and take effective measures that will lead to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament altogether.
Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-46, an act to amend the Criminal Code (production of records in sexual offence proceedings), as reported (with amendments) from the committee.
Alfonso Gagliano Liberalfor the Minister of Justice
moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in.
(Motion agreed to.)
Criminal CodeGovernment Orders
The Deputy Speaker
When shall the bill be read a third time? By leave, now?