Debates of June 7th, 1999

Status Of Women

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, I can speak about support for the women's equality movement. That is what I can speak about.

I can also tell the hon. member that at this point in time the government is spending $10 billion on children in Canada. We are continuing to work on refining a children's agenda to deal with issues of child development, which is what the member is talking about in terms of early childhood education.

The government has implemented something very important known as gender based analysis in which every department, not just Status of Women Canada, has committed itself to looking at how it affects the issues of women's equality within its own department.

Tancook Island Ferry Wharf

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Chester ferry debacle gets worse and worse. In 1931 the then federal government expropriated land in Chester. It paid for the land in 1936. Tancook Island residents have parked on this federal property since that time.

My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. How could his department take land that had been used for ferry parking since the 1930s and give it to private interests, to a private person? How could that be done?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, a moment ago the parliamentary secretary answered basically the same question, that we would take this question under advisement and get back to him with an answer on the specifics of it.

Privilege

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on the question of privilege raised last Friday I would like to state that it was my intention to speak in an honourable way and only to reflect my personal opinion. In no way did I wish to jeopardize the work of the committee.

Upon reflection on what was reported in the media, I accept responsibility for communicating in a way which could be construed as that of the report of the committee. For that I would like to apologize to the House and to the members of the committee.

[The Speaker]

This question of privilege was raised. The hon. member has apologized to the House and we accept his apology. The matter is closed.

I have received notice of a question of privilege from the hon. member for Sherbrooke. Is it a question the hon. member has already raised, or is it a new one?

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not the one of today. It concerns the member for Vaudreuil—Soulanges and the Finance subcommittee.

In the past three years it has become a common, even systematic, occurrence for reports of the House standing committees and the contents of in camera meetings to be leaked by Liberal members to the media before they are officially tabled in the House of Commons.

These leaks betray the spirit and the letter of our guidelines for the procedure of tabling reports by the Liberal majority, accompanied by dissenting opinions by the opposition parties, in the House of Commons.

Last Thursday the Toronto Star disclosed the contents of the report from the subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance, which was to address the issue of tax equity for Canadian families with dependent children. This report ought to have remained confidential because it is due to be tabled in the House later this week.

In reading the newspaper article, it can be seen that the chairman of the subcommittee and member for Vaudreuil—Soulanges duly performed his duties, and there are several quotes from him. Maingot states in chapter 2 at page 229:

Any act or omission which obstructs or impedes either House of Parliament in the performance of its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any Member or officer of such House in the discharge of his parliamentary duty, or which has a tendency, directly or indirectly to produce such results may be treated as a contempt even though there is no precedent for the offence.

Disclosure of a report of a committee or of the contents of in camera discussions among members of this committee before the dissenting opposition opinions are produced and the entire report tabled in the House of Commons is a contempt of—

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe this is the same question of privilege that was raised by my colleague from Medicine Hat last Thursday.

The individual concerned was not in the House. We have been waiting to address it and I did not think we would address it until he was in the House.

[The Speaker]

I asked whether this was a new question of privilege and I was listening to the question of privilege.

If the hon. member for Medicine Hat also named the hon. member for Vaudreuil—Soulanges, then I would ask that the hon. member wait until the hon. member for Vaudreuil—Soulanges is in the House to answer this question of privilege, which was already raised by another member. I will ask all members to hold off until we have had a chance to hear the hon. member for Vaudreuil—Soulanges.

I will let this matter rest for the time being, and once the hon. member is back with us in the House, he will be able to explain himself.

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent of the House for the following motion.

That this House supports maintaining the reference to God in all constitutional, legal and government documents.

[The Speaker]

Does the hon. member have permission to put the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[An hon. member]

No.

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 seven petitions.

Committees Of The House

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 123(1) I have the honour to present the sixth report of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations concerning SOR/82-171, relating to the Stuart-Trembleur Lake Band.

Your committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Criminal Code

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-82, an act to amend the Criminal Code (impaired driving and related matters).

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

Canada Elections Act

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-83, an act respecting the election of members to the House of Commons, repealing other acts relating to elections and making consequential amendments to other acts.

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

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I do not know if this is an appropriate point of order, but since the government House leader is here and he has just tabled the changes to the Elections Act, does it include lowering the voting age to 16?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I know the hon. member for Kamloops is knowledgeable of procedures in the House. He cannot ask questions about bills under the guise of a point of order.

I suggest he have a look at the draft bill when it is printed. I suspect he might find a copy in the lobby now and perhaps he could consult with the minister.

Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 1999

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-84, an act to correct certain anomalies, inconsistencies and errors and to deal with other matters of a non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the Statutes of Canada and to repeal certain acts that have ceased to have effect.

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

Petitions

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I would like to present a petition signed by over 800 of my constituents.

The petitioners ask that moneys received by low income senior citizens, namely CPP and OAS, be tax free and that for those individuals the basic personal exemption be raised to $10,000.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to present yet another petition from more Canadians concerned about our health care system.

The petitioners come from all parts of the country and want to register with the government their concern about the impact of government policies and its failure to reinvest significantly in this field and what it has meant for themselves and their families.

They point out to the government that its policies have resulted in families facing huge waiting lists, crowded emergency rooms, badly overworked health care workers, nurse shortages, lack of access to diagnostic tests and services, two tier American style health care, and other threats to the integrity of Canada's health care system.

They call upon the government to reinvest in the health care field, to guarantee stable funding for health care and to ensure the enforcement of the five principles of the Canada Health Act.

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by a number of Quebecers and dealing with the Canada Post Corporation Act.

The petitioners call upon parliament to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act, which prohibits rural route mail carriers from having collective bargaining rights.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively are among the fundamental freedoms of every person. To deny such freedom is discriminatory against rural workers.

Therefore, parliament must repeal subsection 13(5) as quickly as possible, to comply with its own charter and to respect the right to organize and to collective bargaining.

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I wish to table two petitions in the House. The first is from Claude Gilbert and concerns the Firearms Act. This petition was signed by 25 residents of the riding of Beauce.

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, which I am tabling on behalf of the Hon. Martin Cauchon, calls for mandatory labelling and comprehensive inspection of genetically modified foods, and was signed by many residents of the riding of Outremont.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I wish to inform the hon. member that he must not use the name of another member in his presentation, just the name of the riding or the title.