Debates of April 22nd, 1998

Export Development Corporation Privatization Act

[Charlie Penson, Reform, Peace River, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-392, an act respecting the privatization of the Export Development Corporation and the disposal of the shares therein of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, this act would have two effects, to turn over to the private sector the provision of short and medium term insurance and financing, and to give back to a government department the task of assisting projects that are not commercially viable but which are thought to be in the public interest.

This bill is being moved because I believe it is inappropriate for a crown corporation to be in competition with the private sector and because I would like the minister responsible for providing a commercially non-viable loan to a developing country to be fully accountable to parliament.

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

Privacy Commissioner

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

Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt this motion upon being read. I move:

That, in accordance with subsection 53(3) of the act to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals and that provide individuals with a right of access to personal information about themselves, Chapter P-21 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, this House approves the reappointment of Mr. Bruce Phillips as privacy commissioner for a term of two years.

[The Deputy Speaker]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. I will present them quickly to allow others the opportunity to present theirs as well.

The first petition is from a number of constituents who are very concerned about the government's intention to impose the MAI on Canadians without anybody really knowing what it is all about and without holding proper consultations, et cetera.

They point out dozens of reasons why they oppose the MAI and simply ask the Parliament of Canada never to sign such an agreement.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from petitioners mostly in the Kamloops region. They have been filling out their tax returns and are upset with the tax system. They feel it is biased, unfair and unjust. They feel it favours large corporations over small business and wealthy Canadians over average working Canadians.

The petitioners simply urge the government to undertake a fair tax reform so that personal consumers not suffer any further financial insecurity and unfair costs at this critical time of tax filing.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people have been hearing all kinds of concerns and rumours about the government's intention regarding the pension plan revisions. The petitioners simply ask that before any changes are made to our retirement system an adequate period of consultation occur across the country so every Canadian can have the chance to examine the implications. They are asking for a national referendum on this issue.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first is signed by a number of Canadians including some from my own riding.

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. They also point out that the Income Tax Act discriminates against families who choose to provide care in the home for their preschool children. The petitioners therefore call upon parliament to pursue initiatives to eliminate this tax discrimination against families who choose to provide care in the home for their preschool children.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition again is from a number of Canadians including some from my riding of Mississauga South. It deals with the labelling of alcoholic beverages.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that the Food and Drugs Act is designed to protect Canadians from the potentially harmful effects related to food and drug consumption and that consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems, and particularly that fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol related birth defects are 100% preventable by avoiding alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The petitioners therefore call upon parliament to require health warning labels to be placed on containers of alcoholic beverages to warn expectant mothers and others of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have quite a large number of petitions. I have put them into two groups.

I am pleased to present 19 petitions with the signatures of 476 Canadians from eight different provinces. They are concerned that by ratifying and implementing the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, government bureaucrats and the courts will be legally entitled to determine what is “in the best interests of the child” not parents.

The petitioners go on to say that Canada is creating a bureaucracy to police parents and enforce the guidelines in a UN charter which has never been approved by parliament. Not only are parental rights being undermined by implementing this UN charter but they are concerned it will create greater incentives for families to abdicate their parental responsibilities to the state.

The petitioners request parliament to address their concerns by supporting my private member's motion M-33 which would include parental rights and responsibilities in the charter of rights and freedoms.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second group of petitions I am pleased to present has five petitions with the signatures of 127 Canadians from British Columbia and New Brunswick.

These citizens of Canada support retention of section 43 of the Criminal Code which states “every school teacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child which is under his care if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances”.

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

[Ted McWhinney, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present a petition signed by 390 people living mainly in the Delta, Surrey and White Rock areas of greater Vancouver. They are asking parliament to remove the GST from books, magazines and newspapers.

[Werner Schmidt, Reform, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my privilege to present a petition.

The petitioners request that parliament impose a moratorium on the ratification of the MAI until full public hearings on the proposed treaty are held across the country so that all Canadians can have an opportunity to express their opinion on same.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I would like to present a petition signed by 202 of my constituents in the riding of Bruce—Grey.

These petitioners hail from communities like Paisley, Durham, Wiarton and Shallow Lake. They outline their concerns regarding the multilateral agreement on investment. They ask that parliament impose a moratorium on the Canadian participation in the MAI negotiations until full public debate takes place in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have two more petitions with respect to the Trans-Canada death strip between Gull Lake, Saskatchewan and the Alberta border. There are 195 signatures from residents close to that piece of highway. This brings the total signatures to 2,119 that I have presented in this House on this issue.

The petitioners point out that although the maintenance of highways is constitutionally a provincial responsibility, the federal government has a responsibility to help with the maintenance of the Trans-Canada system.

The Government of Saskatchewan is about to proceed without federal help in twinning this highway. The petitioners call upon Parliament to instruct its servants to begin negotiations with Saskatchewan to jointly fund the construction of two additional lanes on the death strip.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present another in a series of petitions by people who want to help the 18,000 Canadians who suffer from end-stage kidney disease.

These petitioners support the development of a bioartificial kidney project in Canada. This particular petition is signed by more than 500 people, all of whom work in the GM truck plant in Oshawa. These are people who live in the communities north of Lake Ontario.

They point out that kidney dialysis has been a good treatment, that transplantation has been an effective treatment, but that a bioartificial kidney would give great hope to people who cannot be helped by existing treatments.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following question will be answered today: No.70. .[Text]

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy:

With regard to the Child Care-Visions and First Nations/Inuit program during the financial year 1996 to 1997: ( a ) what was the purpose of this program; ( b ) what was the total amount spent; ( c ) what were the main programs, with respect to cost, to which these funds were allocated; ( d ) what was the total number; ( e ) what is the name of the organization, group or individual to whom each grant or subsidy was given; ( f ) what was the stated purpose of each grant or subsidy; and ( g ) what was the cost of each grant or subsidy provided?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

a) The First Nations and Inuit child care initiative is designed to overcome a major hurdle for aboriginal parents by providing affordable and quality child care in First Nations and Inuit communities. With improved access to child care, aboriginal parents will be better able to work or participate in employment training to improve the financial prospects of their families, thereby contributing to the development of their communities.

b) The Government of Canada is committed to providing developmental funding of $72 million over three years. The budget breakdown is $6 million for 1995-96, $26 million for 1996-97, $40 million for 1997-98.

c) All funds were utilized through this program. Ongoing funding of $36 million a year will be available after the initial three-year start-up period.

d) The First Nations and Inuit child care program will support the creation of 4,300 new aboriginal child care spaces and the improvement of 1,700 existing spaces for a total of 6,000 quality child care spaces.

e) Annex A is the list of organizations that have received funding under this program in 1996-97.

f) Funding was granted to aboriginal bands and tribal councils. These funds may have been broken down and redistributed within each band or council. However these funds were, as stated in section (a), used to improve and create aboriginal child care spaces. Proposals are received at Human Resources Development Canada stating the purpose of the grants and subsidies, but are not entered into our databases. This information is kept on file and may be retrieved manually if required, but it is very costly in terms of time and manpower.

g) Annex A is the list of organizations that have received funding under this program in 1996-97.

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

Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the 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, Notice of Motion for the Production of Papers No. P-5 in the name of the hon. member for Brandon—Souris is acceptable to the government, except for those documents which cannot be released pursuant to the Access to Information Act. The papers are tabled immediately.

That an Order of the House do issue for copies of all plans, drawings, documents and proposals initiated by the Crown, or by others on behalf of the Crown, surrounding the disposition, current or planed proposals to rectify the grain transportation delays that occurred in the 1996-97 crop year in Western Canada.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Subject to the reservations expressed by the parliamentary secretary is it the pleasure of the House that Notice of Motion No. P-5 be deemed to have been adopted?