Debates of Oct. 26th, 1998

Petitions

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present three petitions today.

Whereas the majority of Canadians understand the concept of marriage as only the voluntary union of a single unmarried male and a single unmarried female and whereas it is the duty of parliament to ensure that marriage as it has always been known and understood in Canada be preserved and protected, the petitioners pray that parliament enact legislation such as Bill C-225 so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.

These three petitions are signed by many people in my constituency in and around St. Albert, Edmonton, and other areas.

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the signatories of the petition I am tabling today are calling upon parliament to support Private Member's Bill C-304, which would strengthen the protection in the Canadian Bills of Rights for property rights.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which is signed by hundreds of residents of the constituency I have the honour of representing, Burnaby—Douglas. It notes that freedom of choice in health care is becoming increasingly curtailed and further threatened by legislation and statutory regulations of the Government of Canada.

The petitioners urge that Canada's Food and Drug Act be revised in a number of ways, including that the definition of food include dietary supplements and food for special health uses, and that the definition of drug be amended to read that drug includes any substance other than food. They go on with a number of other proposed changes to the Food and Drug Act.

Finally, they urge that only foods the Government of Canada may restrict from a market are those that are proven unsafe or fraudulently promoted and that in all cases the burden of proof shall be on the Government of Canada to establish that such foods are either unsafe or fraudulently promoted.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first deals with human rights.

In this year marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that Canada is an internationally recognized leader of promoting human rights around the world.

Whereas human rights abuses tragically continue in many countries around the world, including countries such as Indonesia, the petitioners call upon Canada to appeal for action by leaders of countries where human rights are not being protected and to seek to bring to justice those responsible for the violation of internationally recognized universal human rights.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns police officers and firefighters.

The petitioners 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 as they discharge their duties and that when one of them loses their life in the line of duty often the employment benefits are not sufficient to take care of their surviving families. Further, the public mourns the loss of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty and wish to support those families in a tangible way in their time of need.

The petitioners call upon parliament to establish a public safety officers compensation fund for the benefit of families of public safety officers who are killed in the line of duty.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)]

We have quite a number of petitions so I would ask hon. members to keep their prefaces brief.

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of 32 constituents of Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough and pursuant to Standing Order 36 I would table a petition urging parliament to enact Bill C-225, an act to amend the Marriage Act, which was introduced by a Liberal member very recently.

[Jean-Guy Chrétien, Bloc, Frontenac—Mégantic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition organized by Albini Lafontaine in Frontenac, which is in my riding.

This petition calls for abolition of the Senate. This would mean an annual saving of $50 million, as well as making the operations of parliament more democratic, and more efficient as well.

[Jim Pankiw, Reform, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions today on behalf of the constituents of Saskatoon—Humboldt.

The first petition is from residents who want to ensure that marriage, as it has always been known and understood in Canada, is preserved and protected. The petitioners pray that parliament enact Bill C-225 so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.

[Jim Pankiw, Reform, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition draws the attention of the House to section 43 of the Criminal Code that recognizes the primary role of parents in the raising and disciplining their children.

The petitioners request parliament to affirm the duty of parents to responsibly raise their children according to their own conscience and beliefs and to retain section 43 of Canada's Criminal Code as it is currently worded.

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition in the House of Commons today on behalf of many of my constituents who do not believe Don Johnston at the OECD with respect to the MAI. They are very concerned that the MAI might likely still proceed and it would have a very negative impact on Canadian life, including environmental protection, employment, wage levels, health care and other programs.

The petitioners are asking the House of Commons that when Don Johnston and the government decide to proceed with the MAI that they have public hearings to express the concerns of all Canadians.

[Murray Calder, Liberal, Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have a petition that states that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is a natural and fundamental one and the denial of access can constitute abuse and can have a serious and detrimental emotional impact on both the grandparents and the grandchildren.

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am honoured to present a petition signed by the residents of Waterloo, St. Thomas and London who note that the use of MMT in gasoline has proven to foul emission control devices and adversely affect engine performances, resulting in higher smog levels.

The petitioners call on parliament to set new national clean fuel standards for gasoline with zero MMT and lower sulphur content.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition pursuant to Standing Order 36 signed by thousands of my constituents. They are concerned about the MAI and are not convinced that the government is going to back off on this. It may have been sort of curtailed for the moment but they want to make it perfectly clear that they have 101 reasons for opposing the MAI, which I will not read.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

I present a second petition, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a number of small business operators in central British Columbia who are concerned about the massive increases in CPP premiums. They support the principle of CPP but they want the government to acknowledge that this will create serious hardship in terms of one more type of payroll tax.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

I have a third petition, Mr. Speaker, on a totally different topic. These petitioners from Kamloops are concerned about the lack of serious consideration for people who hurt animals. They want judges to give more serious sentences to people who harm animals.

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. In the first, over 50 petitioners wish to draw to the attention of the House their concerns for the sanctity of life. The petitioners pray and request that parliament retain the current provisions of the Criminal Code prohibiting assisted suicide and that parliament not sanction the aiding of assisted suicide or euthanasia.

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

In the second petition, Mr. Speaker, some 40 constituents draw attention to their concerns about the impact of the multilateral agreement on investment.

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

The last petition, Mr. Speaker, is signed by some 300 residents of my riding of Cambridge who wish to draw to the attention of the House that the majority of Canadians understand a marriage to be the union of a single unmarried male and a single unmarried female.

The petitioners pray and request that parliament enact Bill C-225 so as to entrench this definition and understanding in statute and preserve and protect the institution of marriage in the way it has always been known.

[Paul Steckle, Liberal, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have pursuant to Standing Order 36 a petition signed by a good number of constituents from the riding of Huron—Bruce. These petitioners share the concern that the additive MMT in Canadian gasoline presents an environmental problem affecting every man, woman and child in Canada. They also call on parliament to set by the end of this calendar year national clean fuel standards for gasoline with zero MMT and low sulphur content.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I join many of my colleagues and submit a petition presented by a number of residents from British Columbia who are very concerned that the MAI is not completely dead. These petitioners would like to drive a stake through its heart to try to make sure it actually stays dead because they point out what sheer folly it would be to enter into any kind of liberalized trade agreement that would bind us for 20 years and have such obviously detrimental effects.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, along with my NDP colleagues, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition on the MAI. They do not believe for one second that this current Liberal government has any intentions, as my colleague from Winnipeg Centre said, to drive a stake through its heart.

I would also like to advise the Liberal government that—

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)]

Order, please. We are presenting petitions. We are not in debate. Just read a summary of the petition and we will get through the day.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I move that all questions stand.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order. I would ask the indulgence of the parliamentary secretary if he could look into the status of question No. 32 which was tabled almost a year ago, October 28 of last year. It was a detailed question concerning expenditure around the then upcoming APEC summit.

We have been waiting for almost a year for an answer. I would ask the parliamentary secretary if he would look into that and come back with an explanation for the delay.