Debates of Nov. 1st, 1999

Privilege

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to prolong this debate, this discussion, this presentation on a matter of privilege raised by the member for Québec East, unduly.

I just want to react to the intervention by the House leader of the Progressive Conservative Party when he says that, to all intents and purposes, this is an appeal from a ruling by the Board of Internal Economy.

With great respect, I would say that this is not the case, insofar as the facts presented by the member for Québec East are an attempt to show that, in the situation he is now facing, he finds himself a victim, as it were, of a suit brought because of his political opinions.

Earlier, mention was made of personal accusations, or personal attacks of which the senator in question was allegedly the victim. I submit to you and to the members of this House that one of the pieces of information in my colleague's householder concerning this senator in particular was taken directly from the Senate's Internet site. This site was modified after my colleague mailed out his householder to his constituents.

My colleague made this statement in all good faith on the strength of information taken from the Senate's Internet site. If this site was not up to date, I do not think the member for Québec East should be held responsible.

As for the other accusations or other incorrect statements allegedly made about members of the Senate in general, the member for Roberval explained clearly that the member for Québec East made all the retractions it was humanly possible to make in the time allowed.

For instance, he was asked to mail out a retraction to all his constituents within five days. As you are well aware, Mr. Speaker, for delivery alone, Canada Post requires eight days. This makes no allowance for the time needed to put together and print a mailing.

In other words, under the circumstances, the expectations of those who are bringing this suit against my colleague were completely out of line. Given that they were completely out of line, he did what was humanly possible to set the record straight.

That said, the senator, and the leader of the government, attempted to belittle this effort, the senator posing as an injuriously affected party or victim of defamatory libel as a member of that institution that is the Senate.

There is no legal precedent by virtue of which a person is a victim of libel because that person's occupational group or the institution to which he or she belongs has been attacked publicly. There is no such case.

What is going on here, and it is important to point this out, is an attack directed against a member of parliament in order to restrict his freedom of speech because of the political opinions expressed by him. This colleague was elected so that he could express himself, express his ideas. That is what he has done, and that is why he is now being sued.

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, all questions of privilege affect all of us in this House. The hon. member has already spoken once today and I think he put his case. At the end of the presentation of his case today the hon. member did not say that he would be happy to put a motion to refer this to the proper committee.

Does the hon. member wish to do so immediately?

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec East, QC]

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

[The Speaker]

I think this should be recorded in Hansard .

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That the House refer to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs the matter of the refusal by the Board of Internal Economy to pay the legal fees incurred by the hon. member for Québec East as a result of the civil lawsuit launched against him by Senator Hervieux-Payette.

[The Speaker]

Of course the motion would only be put if I find a prima facie case of privilege in this particular case.

I have listened to a number of interveners on this particular matter. I always seek advice from all sides of the House, whether for or against a particular point of privilege. I would remind all hon. members that I not only accept this advice but I seek it from all members so that I can get a feel and balance for some of the points which are being brought up.

I am going to look at what the hon. member has said to the House today.

I am going to consider all other interventions that have been made by our colleagues, and I shall get back to the House in due time, if necessary.

Privacy And Access To Information

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Secretary of State (Amateur Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, it is my pleasure to table three documents.

First, pursuant to section 72 of the Privacy Act and section 72 of the Access to Information Act, I have the pleasure of submitting, in both official languages, two copies of the annual report on the administration of the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act within Human Resources Development Canada for the 1998-99 fiscal year.

This report should be referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Secretary of State (Amateur Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with section 38 of the Budget Implementation Act, 1998, I am pleased to submit two copies in both official languages of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation 1998 annual report. This report is to be referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

Canada Pension Plan

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Secretary of State (Amateur Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, third, pursuant to section 117 of the Canada Pension Plan, I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, two copies of the annual report of the Canada Pension Plan for fiscal year 1997-98.

This report should be submitted to the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

Government Response To Petitions

[Derek Lee, 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 responses to six petitions.

Canada Labour Code

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-283, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code (severance pay).

Mr. Speaker, the object of this bill is to remove an unfair discrepancy in the Canada Labour Code. As the code stands now, if older people are laid off in a corporate shutdown, they often end up unable to collect any benefits because of the fact that they are deemed eligible for a pension. In many cases if they are not 65 years of age, they are not eligible for a full pension. On the one hand the pension is less than it would normally be and on the other hand, they get absolutely nothing from the severance package. This is an unequal treatment based on age.

About five years ago the then minister informed me that his bureaucrats were working on this problem and that it would be dealt with in the next edition of the law. Unfortunately that never happened. I hope to have the support of the House on this bill.

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

Canada Transportation Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-284, an act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (discontinued railway lines).

Mr. Speaker, this bill would impose a three year moratorium on the dismantling of railway tracks and any related infrastructure of a railway line that has been discontinued under part III of the Canada Transportation Act.

The object of the bill is to enable potential short line operators to arrange business plans, to do feasibility studies, to negotiate and to be in a position to perhaps operate these abandoned lines. Once the abandoned lines have been dismantled, there is not enough money in the country to put them back together again, so any ongoing operational arrangements must be made before the actual dismantlement is done.

On that basis I propose this bill.

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

Supreme Court Act

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-285, an act to amend the Supreme Court Act (approval of justices by committee).

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is twofold. First, it would allow that nominees to the supreme court could be reviewed by the justice committee thereby introducing a degree of accountability for the supreme court. Second, it would appoint justices for a maximum of 15 years but it would still make them subject to retirement at age 75.

This bill would introduce some limits on the power of the supreme court today, something I think a lot of Canadians would like to see. The purpose of this bill is to introduce some accountability into the supreme court.

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

User Fee Act

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-286, an act to provide for parliamentary scrutiny and approval of user fees set by federal authority and to require public disclosure of the amount collected as user fees.

Mr. Speaker, user fees are becoming an increasingly large part of government revenues, yet there is almost no accountability when it comes to how these fees are introduced in the first place and scrutiny of how they are increased.

This bill would seek to bring the user fees before the appropriate committees of the House of Commons for scrutiny and debate. We could hear witnesses who are affected by these user fees. Ultimately this would give some powers to the committees, something that is long overdue in the House. Ultimately it would ensure that the government does not continue to use these user fees. It is really taxation without representation.

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

Income Tax Act

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-287, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (removal of foreign investment limit for registered retirement savings plans and registered retirement income funds).

Mr. Speaker, the retirement incomes of many Canadians are under siege because of high levels of taxation and because the social safety net, particularly the Canada pension plan and old age security do not come anywhere close to funding their retirement needs.

This idea of removing the foreign content rule on RRSPs would allow people to protect their retirement nest egg and in fact would enhance it.

Canada has only 3% of the world's markets, but of course Canadians have to put essentially 100% of their savings into those markets.

This bill would allow them to spread their risk around and enhance their return, ultimately leaving them better off in their retirement. It has received the support of thousands of Canadians who are in this position today.

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

Criminal Code

[Eric C. Lowther, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-288, an act to amend the Criminal Code (prostitution).

Mr. Speaker, this bill relates to the offences for communicating for the purposes of prostitution. It allows the prosecutor to proceed with either an indictable offence or a summary offence. This bill was actually brought into being by issues of concern in my own constituency where people who are paying taxes want to have safe streets outside their own homes.

This approach to the amendment of the criminal code in this area has been endorsed by a federal and provincial task force on this issue. I look forward to its hearing.

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

Income Tax Act

[Eric C. Lowther, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-289, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (child adoption expenses).

Mr. Speaker, this is a very exciting bill that has had broad support across the country.

This bill would allow those who wished to adopt children to tax deduct up to $7,000 of the expenses that are directly applicable to adopting children in this country of many parents who want to adopt and many children who want to be adopted. This is one vehicle that would help that process come to fruition and it would benefit our kids.

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

Canada Elections Act

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-290, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act (reimbursement of election expenses).

Mr. Speaker, it is with considerable pleasure that I table this bill today. It amends the Canada Elections Act to give a registered party a partial reimbursement of its election expenses when at least 30% of the elected candidates sponsored by the party are women.

I think that we must establish specific measures starting now and this is why I am proud to table this bill. This bill is a major step by the world of politics in connection with the presence of women in politics. I would remind my colleagues that women represent 52% of the population. Now is the time to act.

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

Criminal Code

[Eric C. Lowther, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-291, an act to amend the Criminal Code (prohibited sexual acts).

Mr. Speaker, in light of current events in this country and the Liberal government lowering the age for sexual consent to 14 years, this bill is needed.

The bill would prohibit sexual acts committed with children or in the presence of children under the age of 16. It would effectively raise the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 to 16 years, which is a start in the right direction.

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

Immigration Enforcement Improvement Act

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-292, an act to amend the Immigration Act (improvement of enforcement in the case of those who commit offences).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to reintroduce my private member's bill, which is known as the immigration enforcement improvement act.

I first introduced this bill during the 35th parliament, following the 1994 murders of Georgina Leimonis and police constable Todd Baylis in Toronto. Non-citizens who had been evading deportation committed both crimes.

The bill would eliminate bureaucratic red tape and speed up the deportation of criminal non-citizens. During the last parliament this bill was a votable item and had been undergoing a review by the immigration committee when parliament was dissolved in 1997.

I would encourage all members of the House to lend their support to this initiative.

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

Petitions

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions signed by individuals from the metropolitan Toronto area.

The first petition requests that parliament ask the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to review existing income requirements to allow all potential sponsors to not be unduly burdened. It requests that more than one person be allowed to sponsor the same individual and to share the responsibility of financial support for that immigrant.

The second petition calls upon parliament to ask the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to review the existing fee structure, to combine the landing and processing fees and to lower the fee to $500 per application.

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of my riding, in particular those in the towns of Sundre, Carstairs and Ardrie, I have the honour to present a petition calling for parliament to change the immigration system to allow for the immediate deportation of obvious and blatant abusers of the refugee system.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of submitting to the House two petitions today. Both are on the subject of agriculture and are signed by people from Saskatchewan.

The petitioners suggest that the agricultural income disaster assistance program does not truly reflect the true needs or requirements of western Canadian farmers.

They would also like the AIDA program to be replaced with an immediate acreage payment to resolve some of the issues they are facing with respect to farm commodity prices.

[Rick Casson, Reform, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present to the House. The first one concerns child pornography.

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is my duty and honour to present to the House the following petition which comes from concerned citizens in my riding of Lethbridge.

The signatories are horrified by pornography which depicts children and are astounded by legal determinations that possession of child pornography is not criminal.

They call upon parliament, which has a duty to enact and enforce the criminal code, to take all measures necessary to ensure that the possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence and that federal law enforcement agencies be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of our children.

This petition contains 34 names, mostly from the town of Cardston.

[Rick Casson, Reform, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the following petition from residents of Lethbridge.

Decisions by the supreme court, as well as recent pieces of federal legislation, have placed extreme stress on the traditional definition of the family. The petitioners believe that the traditional family is the building block of society and call upon parliament to enact Bill C-225, an act to amend the marriage act so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.

This petition, which contains the names of 29 residents, brings the total number of names that I have received on this issue to over 1,500. It is a significant statement which I hope the government takes into consideration.