Debates of April 15th, 1999

Order In Council Appointments

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 appointments are deemed referred to the appropriate standing committees, a list of which is attached.

Government Response To Petitions

[Peter Adams, 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 response to 10 petitions.

Committees Of The House

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

In accordance with the order of reference of Tuesday, April 28, 1998, your committee has considered Bill C-32, an act to prevent pollution and to protect the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development.

It was agreed on Thursday, March 25, 1999, that this bill be reported with some 159 amendments as a result of 58 meetings.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Pursuant to its order of reference of Tuesday, December 1, 1998, your committee has considered Bill C-48, an act respecting marine conservation areas, and has agreed to report it with amendments.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 68th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs. If the House gives its consent I intend to move concurrence in the 68th report later this day.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act

[Don Boudria, Liberal, on behalf of the President of Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-78, an act to establish the Public Service Pension Investment Board, to amend the Public Service Superannuation Act, the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act and the Canada Post Corporation Act and to make a consequential amendment to another act.

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

Criminal Code

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-79, an act to amend the Criminal Code (victims of crime) and another act in consequence.

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

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-492, an act to amend the Criminal Code (dangerous offender).

Mr. Speaker, the government has put forward a report through the solicitor general's office which states that during a 10 year period of time dangerous violent offenders who were released from prison committed 2,234 new violent crimes which unnecessarily created a pile of victims across the country.

The reason for that is that no one could retain these people because they could not be declared dangerous offenders at the time of their parole date or date of release.

This enactment would provide that an application under section 753 of the Criminal Code, finding that an offender is a dangerous offender, may be made earlier rather than following the date they are released from imprisonment for an offence while on parole or mandatory supervision, or on the date when the sentence expires.

Too many times front line officers and prison officials have said “Do not release this individual. He is dangerous and he will do it again”, but the law says we have to. This would prevent that from happening. We could retain people such as Fernand Auger, who murdered Melanie Carpenter. That is one example of the 2,234.

I encourage the government to support this bill.

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

Shipbuilding Act, 1999

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-493, an act to promote shipbuilding, 1999.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table today in this House a bill to promote shipbuilding in Canada and to make Canada's shipyards more competitive internationally.

This bill contains three measures sought by the Canadian shipbuilding association, which represents the management of Canada's main shipyards, a coalition of the principal unions in shipbuilding and a number of stakeholders in the area.

I seek the support of all members in this House, because the measures sought would not only save 4,000 jobs, they would create new ones in this important industry.

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

Committees Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 68th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Roy H. Bailey, Reform, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, of all the difficulties we are having at the present time and of all the many petitions, this one is becoming the most referred to petition this year. It is a petition which deals with the terminology and the permanency of the terminology of marriage.

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, this petition verifies that people throughout my constituency claim that it is the duty of parliament to ensure that marriage, as it has always been known and understood in Canada, be preserved and protected.

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition from the Inuit communities of Ivujivik and Inukjuak, in Nunavik.

According to the petitioners, neither the federal nor the provincial government has put up any housing in the past three years. At the moment, 16 to 20 people are living in three room houses. The Inuit are extremely upset by the housing conditions in Nunavik. They consider the situation intolerable. It contributes to the high incidence of tuberculosis, infectious diseases and social problems.

The federal government must honour its housing obligations under the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement.

At the end of October 1998, there was a shortage of 425 houses in Nunavik.

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of 240 residents of the town of Sundre, who call on this government to do a number of things regarding the Young Offenders Act.

In Wild Rose terms, to sum it all up, rather than to go through each one, it simply means: get serious, start taking this act seriously, make some significant changes, and stop tinkering with the young offenders issue.

This request is made on behalf of the Clayton McGloan family of Calgary.

[Gerry Ritz, Reform, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today on behalf of my constituents who have put together two petitions on the sanctity of marriage.

The petitioners are asking that parliament enact private member's 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 between a single male and a single female.

This government talks the talk but has not walked the walk and these petitioners are asking it to do that.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from citizens of Peterborough who are concerned about the continued existence of 30,000 nuclear weapons.

They point out that Canada, although with the capacity to build nuclear weapons, has rejected that option and in so doing has recognized the military futility of nuclear weapons. They are also concerned about the re-arming of the Governments of India and Pakistan with nuclear weapons.

They call on parliament to support the goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons on earth by Canada advocating the immediate de-alerting of all nuclear devices, and that Canada join the nations of the new agenda coalition, and that Canada advocate within NATO that nuclear weapons have no militarily useful role, and that additional financial support be allocated to Russia to ensure the safe and secure disarmament of that country's nuclear arsenal.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of a number of Canadians, including those from my own riding of Mississauga South, on the subject of human rights.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that human rights abuses continue to be rampant around the world in a number of countries such as Indonesia and Kosovo. They also acknowledge that Canada continues to be recognized as a champion of human rights internationally.

Therefore, they call on the Government of Canada to continue to speak out against human rights abuses and to seek to bring to justice those responsible for such abuses.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present a petition on behalf of a number of residents throughout British Columbia.

While they do not really say, I suspect they are really distressed that the signing of international trade agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement, limits the ability of parliaments to pass legislation to protect the environment and the health of Canadians.

The petitioners are distressed and are presumably asking the government to rethink some of the provisions of these trade agreements.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I know that the hon. member would seek to comply with the rules in every respect and just give a brief summary of the petition rather than a discourse on the implications.

Questions Passed As Orders For Returns

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

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 142 and 149 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed. .[Text]

Question No. 142—

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

With respect to the Sydney Tar Ponds in Sydney, Nova Scotia, could the government provide a concise breakdown of: ( a ) how much money has the federal government spent on the Sydney Tar Ponds since 1982; ( b ) what projects have been federally funded and for how much; ( c ) which companies have received federal contracts and for how much; ( d ) will the government table all reports and studies conducted on the Sydney Tar Ponds?

Return tabled.

Question No. 149—

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

For each of the following, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Cape Breton Development Corporation and Entreprise Cape Breton, please provide the following for each fiscal year from 1993-94 to 1996- 97: ( a ) number of people on the Board of Directors; ( b ) how each Director was remunerated; ( c ) the total remuneration for each Director; ( d ) number of employees; and ( e ) average and median salary for all employees?

Return tabled.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I suggest that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?