Debates of Dec. 10th, 1998

Indonesia

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Winnipeg North—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I think you will find unanimous consent of the House for the following motion and for this I would like to express my thanks to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to all members of the House:

That this House express its dismay and sorrow concerning the recent religiously and ethnically motivated acts of violence in Indonesia; that it take note of the devastating impact this cycle of brutality has had on the victims, including ethnic Chinese, Indonesians, Christians and Muslims; that given the multi-faith and multicultural nature of Indonesian society, it call on all parties to do their part to bring an end to the violence and to uphold the spirit of the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, which the Indonesian government has promised to ratify; and that it call on the Indonesian government to condemn these inhumane acts and take actions to ensure a better future for all Indonesians, regardless of their faith or ethnicity.

May I add in the spirit of the moment that Shaughnessy Cohen would have given, I am certain, her consent.

(Motion agreed to)

Insurance Companies Act

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion without debate. I move:

That Bill C-59, an act to amend the Insurance Companies Act, be now concurred in at report stage, and be now read a second time and a third time and do pass.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to, bill concurred in, read the second time, read the third time and passed)

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 50th 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 hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

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

Mr. Speaker, I think you will find that there is unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food be authorized to travel to Washington, D.C. in February 1999, except for the period 19 to 21 February, in order to conduct some pre World Trade Organization negotiations on agriculture with their American counterparts for four days, and that four staff members do accompany the committee.

[The Deputy Speaker]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

House Of Commons

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That the House shall not sit on December 11, 1998, provided that it shall be deemed to have sat and adjourned on that day for the purposes of Standing Orders 28 and 32(1).

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Stéphan Tremblay, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with considerable emotion, I table today a petition supporting the debate I tried to initiate when I left the House with my chair.

This petition is signed by 50,000 people and reads as follows:

“We the undersigned hereby express to the House our great distress that the gap between rich and poor continues to widen despite the economic growth in recent years; that this situation has a significant impact on our quality of live; and that our House of Commons representatives' ability to act for the public good seems to be limited by the economic laws dictated by globalization.

Accordingly, your petitioners ask Parliament to form a parliamentary committee whose mandate would be to examine Canadian parliamentarians' ability to reduce the gap between rich and poor in the new context created by globalization and to propose specific solutions.”

I would like to thank, in closing, all those who have helped circulate this petition.

[Sophia Leung, Liberal, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition to the House on behalf of Canadians from across the country. Many thousands of individuals have signed it. They ask parliament to take action to address human rights violations against the Chinese minority in Indonesia.

I hope the presentation of this petition today on the eve of the international day of human rights will draw attention to this important issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, I did not think we would do petitions today, but I have a number of petitions from Canadians who were concerned about the multilateral agreement that was being negotiated at the OECD.

I am sure these petitioners welcome the collapse of the talks on the MAI. They are nevertheless concerned that the government continues to pursue MAI-like agreements. They therefore call upon parliament to reject the current framework of MAI negotiations and instruct the government to seek an entirely different agreement by which the world might achieve a rules based global trading regime that protects workers, the environment and the ability of governments to act in the public interest.

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition calling on parliament to form a parliamentary committee with the main objective of considering Canadian parliamentarians' ability to narrow the gap between rich and poor in the new context created by the globalization of markets, and suggesting specific solutions.

Those who signed the petition come from various regions in Quebec. I wish to thank the people in my riding who played a large role in helping meet the 50,000-name objective set by my colleague, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean, whose idea the petition was.