Debates of Dec. 1st, 1998

Foreign Affairs

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of One Year Later: The Ottawa Convention is Making a Difference.

Government Response To Petitions

[Peter Adams, 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 10 petitions.

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 19th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts regarding Chapter 18 of the September 1998 auditor general's report.

The report deals with the financial information strategy of government basically moving to a full accrual system and asks that the government move quickly in that area and keep parliament informed.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests the government to table a comprehensive response to this report.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 47th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of some standing committees of the House.

If the House gives its consent, I should like to move concurrence at this time.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. parliamentary secretary have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[An hon. member]

No.

Petitions

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by many of my constituents.

The petitioners are calling on parliament to amend the Divorce Act to include a provision, as supported in Bill C-340, regarding the right of grandparents to have access to or custody of their grandchildren.

[Gurbax Malhi, Liberal, Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to present the following petition signed by 32 concerned Canadians.

The petitioners call upon parliament to encourage the government to consider increasing its level of support for a “Tobin tax” by promoting the concept among other G-7 countries.

The goal of this global currency transaction tax would be to prevent currency speculation.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from members of my constituency, from the communities of Vulcan and Champion, calling on the government to not go down the road of euthanasia. I agree with the petition.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I hate to think that I heard the hon. member express agreement or disagreement with the petition because he knows that is against the rules and I am sure he would not have done it.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present.

The first one is signed by 25 people from my riding of Red Deer. These constituents request parliament to support Bill C-304 which would strengthen the protection of property rights in the Canadian bill of rights.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, signed by 85 people, asks that parliament review and change relevant provisions of the Criminal Code to ensure that men take responsibility for their violent behaviour toward women.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition signed by a number of Canadians, including Canadians from my riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners would like to bring to the attention of the House that human rights violations continue in many countries around the world, including countries such as Indonesia. They also point out that Canada continues to be internationally respected for its defence of international human rights.

The petitioners on this 50th anniversary of the UN declaration on universal human rights call on parliament to continue its efforts to speak out against countries which tolerate violations of human rights and to do whatever is possible to bring to justice those who are responsible for such abuse.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present concerning the multilateral agreement on investment. As we know, talks on the agreement collapsed in Paris this fall.

Nevertheless, these petitioners, who were opposed to the MAI, call upon parliament to recognize the fact that Canadians reject the MAI approach to globalization and they instruct the government to seek an entirely different kind of agreement by which the world might achieve a rules based global economy which protects workers, the environment and the ability of governments to act in the public interest.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by over 100 people in the Peterborough region.

The petitioners point out that merchant navy veterans did not receive post-war veterans benefits, that all of them served under full military command, that many of them served under the most anxious circumstances, and that casualties in the merchant navy were often worse than in other theatres of war.

They call upon parliament to act now to compensate merchant navy veterans for their service and hardship after serving on Canadian and allied ships during World War II and in the Korean war.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from people concerned about the threat of nuclear war.

The petitioners point out that there are over 30,000 nuclear weapons in existence. They pray and request that parliament support the goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons on our earth, that Canada advocate the immediate de-alerting of all nuclear devices, that Canada join the nations of the New Agenda Coalition, that Canada advocate within NATO that nuclear weapons have no militarily useful role, and that additional financial support be allocated to Russia to ensure safe and secure disarmament of its nuclear arsenal.

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Carleton—Gloucester, ON]

I wish to present four petitions calling on parliament to amend the Divorce Act and to support Bill C-343, so that parents and grandparents may have access to their children and grandchildren.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask that you seek the unanimous consent of the House to return to motions.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the House give unanimous consent to revert to motions in Routine Proceedings?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 47th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the parliamentary secretary have the unanimous consent of the House on this occasion to present this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 150 will be answered today. .[Text]

Question No. 150—