Debates of Dec. 6th, 1999

Child Pornography

[Walt Lastewka, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many Canadians are very concerned about the protection of our children. Canadians want strong, no tolerance laws against child pornography and we want proactive safety checks for those who teach, care for and lead our children.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice please explain what is being to make sure our children are safe?

[John Maloney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to our children. When this horrendous decision came down we quickly sought intervener status to go before the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

This has limited application. It applies only in one province. In nine provinces and three territories, the law is fully enforced. Investigations and prosecutions go on.

I also point out that the other provisions of child pornography, such as production, distribution, importation and sale are still illegal in all provinces of Canada. The government stands firmly against child pornography.

Grants

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a follow up question for the member for St. Nick or Saint-Maurice.

He says that he really is not Santa Claus, although he said as much in the 1993 campaign. Maybe he will remember this quote. When the Prime Minister was campaigning at that time he said “When a dossier from Saint-Maurice lands on a cabinet minister's desk, need I say any more?”

It appears to be working. I wonder though, instead of just looking after the unemployment in his riding, why does he not give tax breaks so that all Canadians can get back to work and get a tax break this Christmas.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing that and at the same time unemployment is going down. It is at its lowest since 1981. Two million jobs have been created since we formed the government just six years ago. At the same time, the people of Saint-Maurice are very happy with their member of parliament.

Chiapas

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the international civilian commission observing human rights reminds the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the situation in Chiapas is deteriorating increasingly.

The Mexican government is continuing, according to foreign observers, to seriously infringe on human rights and manifestly lacks the political will to reach a peaceful solution.

Can the minister tell us what specific action he intends to take to bring Mexico, one of Canada's principal trading partners, back in line?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I will be meeting with a civic group from Quebec on this subject, and I would like to get a commitment, particularly from this group. After the meeting, I will share the information I receive with members.

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 I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to four petitions.

Tenth Anniversary Of Tragedy At École Polytechnique

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are gathered here today in the memory of 14 young women who should be getting ready to celebrate a new millennium with us. They should be feeling the pride of building promising careers. They should be starting new families. But they will be enjoying none of these personal milestones.

Why? Because fate, tragically, chose otherwise. Because they were women, and because they were in the wrong place on December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Time stood still in Canada on that day. For the families and friends of the 14 who were taken by this act of insane rage it has never fully started again.

It is true that we learned something from this horror. We had to acknowledge that these murders revealed, as never before in Canada, the terrible reality of violence against women. And we took action with one of the toughest gun control laws in the world and by making the justice system more responsive to the needs of women who experience violence.

But the cold fact is that nothing we have done, or will do, can ever bring back those young lives. That is why my thoughts today are first and foremost with their families and loved ones who have graciously allowed us to share in their private grief in this very public way. Today we join them in reflecting what might have been but never will be.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join with the Prime Minister and other members to remember the victims of that tragic day 10 years ago.

On that day 14 promising young women lost their lives in a malevolent outburst of violence by a man with a gun.

I offer my deepest sympathy to the families and friends of these young women and to the young women who were wounded in this tragedy.

I do so on behalf of all the members of the official opposition.

My wife Sandra and I have raised five children in our home. They are now young adults, two young men and three young women. On the day this tragedy occurred two of our daughters were attending classes at the University of Alberta. As a parent, your heart sinks when you even hear about things like this and your mind races to two questions: How safe are our daughters, any of our daughters, from similar acts of violence? And, what can we do as parents, what in particular should we be teaching or providing at home in order to protect our children from violence, in particular violence directed toward women?

Later the news came out concerning the young man who had perpetrated these terrible acts, of the troubled life and background from which grew his pathological hatred of women. I found myself asking a third question of particular relevance to parents with boys at home: What can we do as parents, what in particular should we be teaching or providing our young men at home in order to deal with attitudes or conditions that might lead them to disrespect or discriminate against or to verbally or physically abuse anyone, but in particular those of the opposite sex?

All three of those questions are as relevant today as they were on this day 10 years ago. They demand responses particularly in our homes and personal relations where the attitudes of young men toward women and vice versa are shaped far more than they are by public policy.

Perhaps today the greatest tribute we can pay to those victims whom we remember and honour today would be to rededicate ourselves not just as legislators but as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to the prevention of violence in our society and in our homes, in particular the violence of men toward women epitomized by the tragedy of December 6, 1989.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, 14 young women paid with their lives for the frustrations of a mad gunman.

Quebec society had considered itself sheltered from such things, but it learned to its sorrow that the culture of violence was still far too present in our everyday lives. Unfortunately, that lesson was learned at the cost of 14 innocent lives.

Lessons have been learned, yes, but the situation is still very precarious. Since December 6, 1989, 858 women have fallen victim to family violence in Quebec and Canada. In 1998 alone, there were 67 such tragic deaths. Although the homicide figures may now be dropping, the number of women using shelters for abused women is constantly on the rise.

This is proof that we, as a society and as individuals, must continue to fight against violence, particularly violence against women.

But what have we done to make violence toward women unacceptable? Not enough. We obviously still have a long way to go.

We must keep up the fight so that women will be able to feel secure and no longer afraid. We must stop seeing violence as commonplace.

Sadly, December 6, 1989 was not an isolated example. Every day, women are being battered, being hurt by partners, other family members, or people they work with.

Let us, as a society, examine our consciences and take action against the violence we see on our television screens every day. Let us denounce violence in our schools, in our media, in our day-to-day lives. Let us condemn violence. Let us act to teach respect, tolerance and fairness.

I call upon the federal government to organize a violence awareness campaign. The cuts it has imposed on women's groups are aberrant, when one considers that this affects the safety of the women of Quebec and of Canada. These decisions must be re-examined for the safety of societies in Quebec and in Canada.

To the parents and friends of the 14 women killed at École Polytechnique, I express my sympathies, and those of all members of the Bloc Quebecois. We share the memory of that terrible day, and it will remain with us for a long time.

Let us ensure that the 14 did not die in vain. Let us keep their memory fresh to galvanize our actions.

[Michelle Dockrill, NDP, Bras D'Or, NS]

Mr. Speaker, following the unthinkable tragedy in Montreal 10 years ago today, Dawn Black, then NDP member of parliament for New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby dedicated her energy to the passing of the bill that would ensure that the people of Canada would never forget and would be active in any violence against women.

Women who are victims of violence are left with lifelong physical and emotional scars. The remembrance ceremonies in communities across the country serve to highlight the fact that for some women the physical scars may heal while the emotional scars that violence leaves on these women will take a lifetime to mend and will require change in our society.

The tragedy in Montreal only heightened our fear. Women's groups today have called again for a funding commitment to the women of Canada aimed at curbing violence against women. A commitment from the government would be a fitting memorial to all of the women of Canada who have been victims of violence and it would be a promise for change.

Today we must reaffirm and recommit ourselves to the essence of Dawn Black's private member's bill that named December 6 as the day of remembrance and action on violence against women. We cannot stop now. We must counteract the feeling of vulnerability and insecurity that women face which hit the Canadian public like a shock wave 10 years ago today. As a society, we must not only be intolerant but stand united in addressing the causes of violence against women so that women feel safe in their daily lives.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, as I am sure many of our colleagues in the House also do today, for 10 years ago Canada was changed. We in this country have always been blessed with the ability to say that we live in a nation better than all others.

Ten years ago one man armed with his hatred forced us to view a darker version of ourselves, a Canada no different than the foreign societies we fear. He did this by taking from us the lives of 14 young beautiful women in their prime from our own backyard. It defined us as a country that no longer has to look outside its borders to find an example of malicious and senseless violence.

It changed us as a people. We could no longer say that horrors such as these did not happen in our Canada. Although I did not know these brave little souls, I came to know of their innocence and their courage. We as a country came to know them to be no different from our daughters, our sisters, our neighbours and our friends.

We remember them not only as the only victims of violence against women, but as those whose story was so tragic that it forced the nation to turn its attention to the violent cruelty faced by women across the land at the hands of others.

It is not enough to merely remember these brave women and mourn their loss, without taking the steps necessary to ensure that a horror of this kind does not take place again.

Today across the country the spirit of these young women will serve as a call to action. Whether from Saint John, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat or Montreal, Canadians will stand together and condemn violence against women. They will gather to pray and to comfort. They will gather to harness strength and initiative. They will acknowledge the good that has been done in the name of those slain and focus on the challenges that lie before us.

On behalf of the Right Hon. Joe Clark, our leader of the PC Party of Canada, and all of our colleagues in the House, we wish to convey our deepest, heartfelt sympathies, unchanged by the passage of time to the families and loved ones of the 14 women. They will, as will their families, remain in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers always, en souvenir de leurs vies.

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, in memory of the 14 young Canadian women who were murdered, would you please stand with me for one minute's silence.

Petitions

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition signed by tens of thousands of Canadians.

The petitioners are calling upon the government to take appropriate steps to enhance the cultural industries of Canada, particularly the growing film industry. They lay out a number of recommendations for the government to consider. The petitioners are calling upon the government to take appropriate action to give strength to our dynamic cultural sector.

[Peter Goldring, Reform, Edmonton East, AB]

Madam Speaker, today I take great pride in presenting a petition put forth by many concerned Canadians mostly from the province of Quebec. These petitioners ask for the government to affirm that all Canadians are equal under all circumstances and without exception in the province of Quebec and throughout Canada. They wish to remind the government to enact only legislation that affirms the equality of each and every individual under the laws of Canada.

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

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of many of my constituents as well as people from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Zehner, Saskatchewan, Lake Lenore, Moose Jaw, Sintaluta, Saskatoon, Green Lake, La Loche, Prince Albert, Kelowna, Yorkton and other parts of the country. These people are very concerned. They are asking the House of Commons on behalf of children of separation and divorce that no parent should ever lose legal custody of their child or children, or by legal process be denied equal time shared parenting to maintain a meaningful relationship with their child or children unless found by due process to be unfit under the laws of Canada.

The petitioners also believe that no parent should be allowed to obstruct the child's relationship with the other parent or with other close family members, unless that other parent or family member has been found by due process to be unfit under the laws of Canada.

Finally, they believe that adversarial procedures should be avoided in favour of more co-operative approaches to divorce, such as mediation and education on co-parenting.

They are asking the House of Commons to pass legislation incorporating these rights of children and principles of equity between and among parents.

[Howard Hilstrom, Reform, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from residents of my riding of Selkirk—Interlake.

They are concerned that the dredging that has been discontinued by the federal government, the Canadian Coast Guard and public works on our navigable waters of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg is seriously hampering both commercial fishing and pleasure boating. As a result, these 900 plus petitioners would like the federal government to reinstate dredging on the Red River and Lake Winnipeg and the harbours associated with these waterways, which will help Manitobans to a great extent.

Questions On The Order Paper

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, Question No. 22 will be answered today. .[Text]

Question No. 22—

[Jim Pankiw, Reform, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

For each of the fiscal years from 1994 to 1998 inclusively, and with respect to French language broadcasting stations operating outside Quebec and English language broadcasting stations operating within Quebec, what has the government determined to be: ( a ) the total amount of federal tax dollars spent in each province to provide these services; and ( b ) the total amount of advertising revenue generated by each of these stations?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage]

The government provides the CBC with a parliamentary appropriation to provide a national public television and radio broadcasting service for all Canadians in both official languages. This service is primarily Canadian in content and character.

As a crown corporation operating independently from government, the CBC is not required to provide details of its annual revenues and expenditures beyond those which are contained in its audited financial statements of its annual reports.

The following financial information on expenditures and revenues for fiscal years 1994-95 to 1998-99 is contained in the CBC's annual report.

Annex A describes total expenditures for CBC English and French services before taxes and Annex B describes revenues.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

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

[The Acting Speaker (Ms. Thibeault)]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker (Ms. Thibeault)]

I wish to inform the House that because of the ministerial statement, Government Orders will be extended by 12 minutes.

The House resumed consideration of Bill C-9, an act to give effect to the Nisga'a Final Agreement, as reported (without amendment) from the committee; and of the motions in Group No. 1.