Debates of May 27th, 1998

Committees Of The House

[Susan Whelan, Liberal, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, February 26, 1998, the committee has considered the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1999.

The chair wants to thank members of the committee for their efforts in that review. The plans and priorities of two departments and 11 agencies were examined by the committee which devoted 14 meetings and more than 24 hours to the study of the 1998-99 budget estimates.

Further I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, April 21, 1998, the committee has considered Bill C-37, an act to amend the Judges Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts. The committee has agreed to report it without amendments.

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions today signed by a number of Canadians including some from my riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners would like to 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 execute their duties, that employment benefits of police officers and firefighters often do not provide sufficient compensation to the families of those killed in the line of duty, and that the public also mourns the loss of those killed in the line of duty and wishes to support in a tangible way the surviving families in their time of need.

The petitioners therefore call upon parliament to establish a public safety officers compensation fund for the benefit of families of public safety officers including police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with families. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that managing the family home and caring for pre-school children is an honourable profession which has not been recognized for its value to our society.

The petitioners also concur with the National Forum on Health discussion paper which says that the Income Tax Act discriminates against families who choose to provide care in the home to pre-school children.

The petitioners therefore call upon parliament to pursue initiatives to eliminate tax discrimination against families who decide to provide care in the home to pre-school children.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present. The first one I present pursuant to Standing Order 36 deals with the multilateral agreement on investment.

The petitioners are completely freaked out that the government will try to pull a sneaky one and reintroduce this agreement. They are very concerned.

They want it registered clearly that they are against the MAI completely and totally and never want any signature to be attached to that document from Canada.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on another matter. The petitioners are again from Kamloops. They are concerned about the ongoing GST situation.

They are suggesting that now the government is in a surplus situation it should start phasing out the GST. If there is one way to send a clear signal that the government is serious about providing some tax relief, a GST reduction would give immediate tax relief to virtually every Canadian from coast to coast to coast.

The petitioners are very excited by this prospect and hopeful the government will act.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my last petition is on another matter. The petitioners are from cities and communities throughout British Columbia. They are concerned about the state of the retirement system of Canada.

They point out that many seniors are living below the poverty line with the incomes they receive. They want the government to consider looking at the retirement system to ensure that every senior citizen has an adequate retirement pension.

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present from residents from Gogama, Ontario.

They request that parliament impose a moratorium on 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 opinions about it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition pursuant to Standing Order 36 on behalf of many of my constituents and others in Saskatchewan who are concerned about the continuing existence and continued testing of nuclear weapons which pose a significant threat to the health and survival of human civilization and the global environment.

The petitioners are requesting that parliament support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present petitions originating from the Women's Institute in Washago in my riding of Simcoe North.

These petitions contain 197 signatures and call upon parliament to request the government, through the Medical Research Council, to increase and adequately fund the remaining years of the Canadian multi-centre osteoporosis study.

[Jean Dubé, Progressive Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to rise today to present a petition on behalf of my constituents, people from Dalhousie, Campbellton and Eel River Crossing.

They call upon government to give a $12,000 allowance to mothers at home. In order to finance this allowance the Bank of Canada must issue new money that would not be borrowed but issued debt free, interest free and tax free. This new money would be given out free like a dividend to all the mothers who stay at home.

The production of our country is evident enough to correspond to the issuance of new money and this would boost our country's economy.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from approximately 500 people who support a bioartificial kidney project in Canada. They believe that such a project would eventually eliminate the need for dialysis or transplantation for those suffering from kidney disease.

These signatures were collected in such places as the Rosemount Memorial Gardens, Comstock Funeral Home, Three in One Management Services, Black Belt Family Fitness, Peterborough District Association for Community Living, Cheers Coffee and Donuts, Amicus Ministries International, Paget Denture Clinic and the Morrow Building Farmers Market.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I think the hon. member knows that it is permissible to give a brief summary of the petition and the names of the petitioners possibly, but to go into who collected the petition sounds perhaps a little beyond the bounds. I know the parliamentary secretary is a stickler for the rules and would want to follow them very closely.

[Louise Hardy, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, this petition that I am presenting concerns undocumented convention refugees and has over 800 signatures.

The petitioners would like the government to implement the December 1996 recommendation from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration so that undocumented convention refugees would get their status not later than two years after being accepted as a convention refugee. What has been happening is that they have been left in limbo. Many refugees have been left marginalized without landed status.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 83 will be answered today. .[Text]

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

What steps has the Government of Canada taken to encourage Mexican Government compliance with the law on dialogue and peace on Chiapas and the San Andres accords following the Acteal massacre in December 1997?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

The December 22, 1997 massacre in Acteal, Chiapas dismayed all Canadians, and the Government of Canada has condemned it in the strongest terms. The day after the massacre, the Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed Chiapas with the Mexican foreign minister by telephone. During Team Canada's January 11-14, 1998 visit to Mexico, Chiapas was raised directly with President Zedillo in a meeting with the Minister for International Trade, the Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa and the premiers. The Canadian government has since raised and will continue to raise the issue of Chiapas with Mexican officials.

In mid-March, the Mexican government proposed constitutional amendments on indigenous rights and culture. Theses amendments, according to the Mexican government, fulfill its obligations under the San Andres accords. The amendments will be debated in the Mexican congress.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

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

[Jean Dubé, Progressive Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, as has already been done on numerous occasions, I rise today to ask the parliamentary secretary once again for an answer to Question No. 21, which is still on the order paper.

I am certain that the parliamentary secretary is doing everything he can to comply with the request, but the government does not seem to want to answer this question. Could the parliamentary secretary tell us when we might expect an answer?

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member is quite correct. He has asked about Question No. 21 on previous occasions. I would point out to him that in dealing with well over 100 such questions we are batting about 75% at the present time. We are working as hard as we can on these matters.

I assure him that I have been following up his concerns on Question No. 21 with great diligence.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Shall the remaining questions stand?

[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 ask that all Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Budget Implementation Act, 1998

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, for the Minister of Finance]

moved that Bill C-36, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in parliament on February 24, 1998, be read the third time and passed.