House of Commons Hansard #206 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was reform.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, a number of order in council appointments made recently by the government.
Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 110(1), these order in council appointments are deemed referred to the appropriate standing committees, a list of which is attached.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Government Leader 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 response to 15 petitions.
Julian Reed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to table, in both official languages, international treaties that were entered into force for Canada in 1997 and 1996, a list of which is also tabled.
Sarmite Bulte Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, a report from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the parliamentary visit of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which took place from February 14 to 20 in Barbados.
Ian Murray Liberal Lanark—Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Industry.
Pursuant to its order of reference of Tuesday, November 3, 1998, your committee has considered Bill C-54, an act to support and promote electronic commerce by protecting personal information that is collected, used or disclosed in certain circumstances, by providing for the use of electronic means to communicate or record information or transactions and by amending the Canada Evidence Act, the Statutory Instruments Act and the Statute Revision Act, and is pleased to report the bill to the House with amendments.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 64th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the selection of votable items in accordance with Standing Order 92. This report is deemed adopted on presentation.
I also have the honour to present the 65th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of the Standing Committee on Finance.
If the committee gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 65th report later this day.
Réal Ménard Bloc Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-491, Antipoverty Act.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table an antipoverty bill that proposes to add social condition as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The bill creates a new prohibited ground of discrimination: failure to offer financial services on the basis of inadequate income. It asks the Canadian Human Rights Commission to evaluate annually poverty in Canada and the resources that should be allocated in order to eliminate it.
I look forward to receiving the support of each one of my colleagues in this House, since it is an excellent bill.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 65th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.
(Motion agreed to)
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present six petitions to the House on behalf of the good people of Dauphin—Swan River.
The first petition calls on the government to mandate the Canadian Wheat Board to start shipping grain to the port of Churchill and not just toward the east and west coasts as it has done for decades.
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, in the second petition the petitioners request parliament to affirm the duty of parents to responsibly raise their children according to their own conscience and beliefs and to retain section 43 of Canada's Criminal Code as it is currently worded.
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, in the third petition the good people of Dauphin request the government to support Motion No. M-300 which states that the government should authorize a proclamation to be issued by the governor general under the great seal of Canada amending section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to recognize the fundamental rights of individuals to pursue family life free from undue interference by the state and to recognize the fundamental rights and responsibilities of parents to direct the upbringing of their children. The petitioners urge the legislative assemblies of the provinces to do likewise.
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, in the next petition the good people of Dauphin ask that parliament enact Bill C-225, an act to amend the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act and the Interpretation Act so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, in the fifth petition the good people of Dauphin—Swan River believe that the House needs to bring in legislation in accordance with the provisions of the Referendum Act that would require that a binding national referendum be held at the time of the next election to ask voters whether they are in favour of government funding for medically unnecessary abortions.
Inky Mark Reform Dauphin—Swan River, MB
Mr. Speaker, in the last petition the good people of Dauphin request that the government repeal Bill C-68 and allocate those funds to more positive things, such as women's crisis centres, preventing crime on the streets and so forth.
Nelson Riis NDP Kamloops, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition pursuant to Standing Order 36 from a number of constituents of Clearwater, British Columbia who point out a number of reasons they are concerned that the provisions of NAFTA will result in the eventual export of Canada's fresh water to the United States and northern Mexico.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present another petition from citizens of Peterborough and other communities in Ontario and Alberta who are concerned about the people of Iraq. They point out that the people of Iraq have suffered untold hardship and trauma in the wake of the gulf war and the recent mass bombing attacks.
They call upon the Parliament of Canada to strongly appeal to the United Nations, the United States and Britain for the rejection of any further military action against Iraq, and call for a serious attempt at peace negotiations with Iraq and its neighbours.
The petitioners also call for the raising of the embargoes, except for military materials, and they urge that Canada vastly increase its efforts in providing food, medicine and infrastructure reconstruction to Iraq.
Scott Brison Progressive Conservative Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, I present to the House a petition signed by many of my constituents who are asking that section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act be repealed so that rural route mail couriers are allowed to have collective bargaining rights in the same manner as private sector workers who deliver mail in rural areas.
Scott Brison Progressive Conservative Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, I also submit to the House a petition signed by many of my constituents who are asking parliament to enact Bill C-225, an act to amend the Marriage Act and the Interpretation Act so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into by a single male and a single female.
Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions to the House of Commons today.
The first is signed by people from Humboldt, St. Benedict and Moose Jaw who call upon parliament to reject the recommendation of the MacKay task force report pertaining to the entry of banks into the casualty and property insurance markets. They call upon parliamentarians not to give in to the pressure of Canada's chartered banks on this important matter.
Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from farm families in the Kelvington Nut Mountain area of Saskatchewan. They are calling on the House not to accept major recommendations of the Estey report on grain transportation, including specifically the abolishment of the cap on freight rates, the altering of the role of the Canadian Wheat Board in managing transportation and handling of export grains.
The petitioners also want to ensure that hopper cars remain in the hands of the wheat board or farmers to ensure that producer cars remain affordable and that new rules be established to encourage viable short line railways.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 171, 173, 175, 177 and 194. .[Text]
Question No. 171—
Ted White Reform North Vancouver, BC
What were the total costs incurred by the government since 1995 as a result of the negociations to return Christine Lamont and David Spencer to Canada, iremized by department and including, but not limited to, administrative and travel costs for ministers and other parties to the negotiations, RCMP expenses associated with the physical return of Ms. Lamont and Mr. Spencer to Canada and transportation costs within Canada?
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
I am informed by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the Ministry of the Solicitor General as follows:
Five other texts were translated prior to 1996. The costs for translation were borne by the secretary of state. The estimated cost for the translation of those five documents is $10,878.
These documents are not required in order to effect the transfer, but would be used in the assessment of the conditional release terms.
There were no trips made relating to the negotiation of the transfer. The Transfer of Offenders Treaty itself was negotiated in 1992 and ratified in 1998.
Consular visits are part of the consular mandate and were conducted during regular working hours.
The total costs incurred by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which related to the return of Christine Lamont and David Spencer to Canada were $118,078.00. This amount was cost-recovered from Correctional Service Canada.
Question No. 173—
Randy White Reform Langley—Abbotsford, BC
For the years 1997 and 1998; ( a ) how many criminal offences were committed with the use of a firearm; ( b ) of those offences, how many firearms were recovered by law enforcement authorities; and ( c ) of those firearms recovered by authorities, how many were registered in the national firearms registry?
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
I am informed by Justice Canada and Statistics Canada as follows: (a) The most recent year in which Canadian crime statistics are available is 1997. Data on criminal offences committed with the use of firearms are reported by police to the Aggregate Uniform Crime Reporting Survey UCR1, and Homicide Survey maintained by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. The CCJS is Canada's official source of crime data.
There are three criminal offences reported in the above-mentioned surveys. These include firearm homicide, firearm robbery and discharge firearm with intent. Other types of criminal offences investigated by the police which may involve the use of a firearm, et cetera, for example attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, abduction, are currently not reported to the CCJS, nor are they available nationally from other sources.
In 1997 there were 193 firearm homicide incidents, 5,478 firearm robbery incidents and 189 discharge firearm with intent incidents, representing a total of at least 5,860 criminal incidents which involved the use of a firearm.
(b) Although individual police agencies may collect this information, data on recovered firearms are not available from a national data source. Compiling such data would require considerable effort and cost. However, the Canadian Firearms Registration System, CFRS, will assist in further developing national data on firearms recovered by law enforcement in the future.
A number of alternative sources may be examined to provide a partial picture. Data from the Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, PWEU, of Ontario and from various recovered gun studies are presented below. According to PWEU, there were a total of 7,566 firearms seized by Ontario law enforcement in 1997 and 1998. These data reflect firearms seized from a crime scene or guns that were illegally possessed. According to PWEU, their records do not indicate whether the firearms were in fact used in a crime. Individual municipalities are still reporting data from 1998 and as a result the above figure is an undercount.
As additional information, PWEU provided the types of firearms seized by police during the above period. In 1997, 78% of the firearms seized were rifles/shotguns, 18% were handguns, 2% were machine guns/pistols and the remaining 1% were sawed-off rifles/shotguns.
Recently the Department of Justice Canada, in partnership with police services in Saint John, New Brunswick, Hull, Quebec, Thunder Bay and Windsor, Ontario, and Regina, Saskatchewan commissioned a joint research project to study the number and types of firearms recovered by police. It examined police records and property room files for the year 1995.
The study found that in 1995 these law enforcement agencies recovered 473 firearms in criminal incidents. Overall the study found that 52% of the firearms recovered by police in relation to a criminal incident were non-restricted rifles and shotguns, 21% were handguns, 19% were air guns, 4% were sawed-off rifles/shotguns and the remaining 4% were other firearms. It is important to note that under the Criminal Code air guns that shoot projectiles under the velocity of 152 meters per second are not defined as firearms. However, due to the number recovered in this and previous studies data on air guns were collected.
Data collected by the national Firearms Smuggling Work Group from 10 different police agencies across Canada revealed that they recovered 4,496 firearms in criminal incidents in 1993. The study also reported that of the 4,496 firearms recovered in criminal incidents, 47% were rifles/shotguns, 21% were handguns, 18% were air guns, 11% were other firearms and the remaining 3% were sawed-off rifle/shotguns.
In the above two studies, recovered firearms served as the unit of analysis, not criminal incidents involving firearms. In these studies the firearms may or may not have been used directly in the commission of a crime. For example, they includes firearms recovered by police during a drug raid.
(c) As noted above, data on recovered firearms are not readily available on a national level. Futhermore, if national data were readily available, the registration status of recovered firearms could only be ascertained for restricted firearms “mainly handguns” registered on the Restricted Weapons Registration System, RWRS, maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Once again, the CFRS will assist in developing information on the registration status of all firearms recovered by law enforcement.
Long gun registration statistics for crime will only be available when long gun registry is fully operational, after January 1, 2003.
Question No. 175—