Debates of March 18th, 1998

Petitions

[Lee Morrison, Reform, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present, signed by a total of 1,243 of my constituents.

More than half of the petitioners are from the little community of Gull Lake which lies at the east end of the infamous Trans-Canada death strip where 39 lives have been lost since 1978.

The petitioners state that notwithstanding the constitutional division of powers, the federal government has a responsibility to assist provinces with upgrading substandard sections of the Trans-Canada Highway, and that the province of Saskatchewan, with six times the national average length of roads and highways per capita, cannot finance this necessary public work without a federal contribution.

They therefore humbly pray and call on Parliament to instruct its servants to immediately commence negotiations with the Government of Saskatchewan to jointly fund the upgrading of this vital national transportation link by constructing two additional lanes.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present three petitions with regard to the MAI which the Government of Canada is currently negotiating. It is an international trade agreement of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris called the multilateral agreement on investment.

The petitioners note that the MAI is the latest in a series of regional and global agreements which, in the name of liberalization, trade and investment, expands the powers of multinational corporations at the expense of the powers of government to intervene in the marketplace on behalf of our social, cultural, environmental and health care goals; that the MAI is fundamentally flawed in so far as it seeks to protect the rights of investors without seeking similar protection for workers through binding core labour standards; and that the MAI is anti-democratic in so far as it would be binding for 20 years, thus tying the hands of several parliaments and future governments.

Therefore, we petition Parliament to reject the current framework of the MAI negotiations and instruct the government to seek—

[The Deputy Speaker]

Order, please. It has become apparent to the Chair that the hon. member is reading the petition and I think he knows that is contrary to the rules.

When members present petitions they are to indicate the general nature of the petition and give a brief summary of the petition. I would invite the hon. member to comply with the rules. I think he has more than made his point in respect of this petition.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of a number of Canadians, including constituents from my riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that our police officers and firefighters place their lives at risk on a daily basis as they execute their duties and that when one of them loses their life in the line of duty their employment benefits often to not provide adequately for the surviving family.

The public also mourns the loss when one of them loses their life and would like to provide, in a tangible way, some assistance to the surviving families.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to enact a public safety officers compensation fund for the benefit of the families of police officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased and privileged to be able to present a petition under Standing Order 36 on behalf of my constituents. The petitioners are all residents of my constituency of Winnipeg North Centre.

The petitioners express their deep concern about the multilateral agreement on investment. They are concerned about the process and the secrecy surrounding the development of this agreement. They are also concerned with the substance of the agreement and believe that it is fundamentally flawed in that it seeks to protect the rights of investors without seeking similar protection for workers through binding core labour standards.

I want to indicate that the petitioners call upon this government to reject the multilateral agreement on investment and to put in place responsible international policies.

[John Nunziata, Independent, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition on behalf of Deborah McNamara of Aurora, Ontario and a number of other residents who object to the decision of the supreme court to rule unconstitutional the nudity provisions of the Criminal Code.

They call upon Parliament to amend the indecent acts and public nudity provisions of the Criminal Code to clearly state that it is an indecent act for a woman to expose her breasts in a public place, with the exception of women who are breast feeding.

[John Nunziata, Independent, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I would like to present to the House concerns Manickavasagam Suresh, who is a Canadian refugee and determined as such in 1991.

The petitioners state that if deported to Sri Lanka he will face danger to his life and freedom at the hands of the Sinhalese dominated security force.

The petitioners call upon the minister and Parliament to ensure that Mr. Manickavasagam Suresh is not deported and request his immediate release from incarceration.

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present.

I present the first one on behalf of petitioners from across Canada. They would like to draw attention to the actions of the Canadian government in the arrest and treatment of citizens protesting at Clayoquot Sound, Temogami, Ipperwash, Oka, Gustafson Lake, Slocan Valley and APEC. They have violated the civil and political rights of those arrested, which is in violation of the international covenant of civil and political rights to which Canada is a signatory.

They are raising this issue and request that the Canadian government act on it.

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is also from petitioners from across Canada. It deals with the multilateral agreement on investment; sovereign rights of Canada; and labour, social and environmental issues.

They call upon the government to take a second look at our signing away these vested interests of Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition motivated by the CRTC decision on July 22, 1997 to refuse to license more religious televisions broadcasters while on the same day it licensed the pornographic Playboy channel for television service.

Therefore the petitioners pray that parliament review the mandate of the CRTC and direct the CRTC to administer a new policy which will encourage the licensing of religious broadcasters.

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I present seven petitions from Canadians throughout the country.

They ask for parliament to reject the current framework of the multilateral agreement on investment. They ask the government to look at an entirely different agreement, one that will protect workers, the environment and the social interests of all Canadians rather than just those of investors.

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present four petitions on behalf of citizens from across the country including my riding of Dartmouth. They are very concerned about the effect of the multilateral agreement on investment on labour, environment, arts and culture.

They would like to see parliament reject the current framework of the 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.

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present 11 petitions representing hundreds of Canadian citizens across the country.

They are also objecting to the MAI. They are requesting the government to reject the current framework and to establish an appropriate rules based trading agreement which will protect the environment, social welfare programs and so forth.

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like the consent of the House to present a private member's bill.

I realize that time has elapsed but like many other members we were caught outside and I simply want to introduce one bill today.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the House give its consent to revert to the presentation of bills.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications Commission Act

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-381, an act to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, co-sponsored by my colleague from Leeds—Grenville, amends the CRTC Commission Act to provide for representation of consumers on the board of commissioners.

At the beginning of this month, Canadians again saw what little voice they had when the CRTC made a ruling permitting the basic television cable service to be left in its own jurisdiction. The problem with cable increases has been raised in the public domain.

The bill would ensure that half the CRTC commissioners be appointed from consumer organizations with expertise in broadcasting and telecommunications. The commission would then be a more forceful watchdog in the industry.

The bill also provides that commissioners detail how they vote on CRTC decisions and that the commission be vested with the responsibility to assure both the cost effectiveness and the rights of Canadian consumers with respect to these decisions.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Questions Passed As Orders For Returns

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

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 73 could be made an order for return, the return would be tabled immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House that Question No. 73 be made an order for return?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed. .[Text]

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

With respect to the Canada-Nova Scotia Infrastructure Works program: ( a ) what projects have been approved under this program since June 2, 1997; ( b ) what was the location of each approved project; and ( c ) what was the financial contribution made by the Government of Canada for each approved project?

Return tabled.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions For Papers

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

Mr. Speaker, I suggest that all notices of motion for the production of papers be allowed to stand.