House of Commons Hansard #240 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was senate.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary 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.
Susan Whelan Liberal Essex, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 19th report of the Standing Committee on Industry entitled “Research Funding—Strengthening the Sources of Innovation”.
For two years the committee has monitored the funding of federal research and research across Canada. We believe that Canada's investment needs to be strengthened and we present this report today.
Civil International Space Station Agreement Implementation ActRoutine Proceedings
Ottawa South Ontario
Liberal
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-85, an act to implement the Agreement among the Government of Canada, Governments of Member States of the European Space Agency, the Government of Japan, the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Government of the United States of America concerning Cooperation on the Civil International Space Station and to make related amendments to other Acts.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Werner Schmidt Reform Kelowna, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honour and a privilege to present some 3,000-plus petitioners who have come to the House with a petition. They would request that parliament take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence, and that federal police forces be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of our children.
This is a wonderful petition and I endorse it 100%.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting two petitions this morning. The first petition has been signed by residents of my constituency of Burnaby—Douglas as well as communities across Canada.
The petitioners, members of the Humanist Association of Canada and others, seek changes to the preamble to Canada's constitution and to the charter of rights. They wish to remove the reference to the supremacy of God in the preamble and to change the wording of the charter of rights to reflect the fact that Canada is a secular country which respects the deeply held views of people of many different religious faiths as well as those who have no religious beliefs.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition notes that the NATO attack on Yugoslavia is illegal under the charters of the United Nations and NATO, and that the best hope for world peace rests on the rule of international law administered by the United Nations. It notes that the present war, intended to reduce the persecution, killing and displacement of Kosovars, has drastically increased all three.
Therefore, the petitioners call on the House of Commons to withdraw immediately all Canadian Armed Forces from the war and use all our influence to convince the United Nations to arrange a ceasefire followed by further negotiations on the future of Kosovo. They petition Milosevic to put an end to the ethnic cleansing that is taking place in Yugoslavia, including in the province of Kosovo.
Raymond Lavigne Liberal Verdun—Saint-Henri, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition signed by my constituents which calls upon the government to withdraw our military support in Yugoslavia and to stop the bombing.
Randy White Reform Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by literally thousands of people from across the country asking parliament to take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence, and that federal police forces be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of children.
Clifford Lincoln Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions.
The first petition states that residents of Canada call on parliament to enact an immediate moratorium on the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides until such time as their use has been scientifically proven to be safe and the long term consequences of the application are known.
Clifford Lincoln Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition states that the use of the additive MMT in Canadian gasoline presents an environmental problem affecting every man, woman and child in Canada.
Therefore, the petitioners call on parliament to set, by the end of this calendar year, national clean fuel standards for gasoline with zero MMT and low-sulphur content.
Deepak Obhrai Reform Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today on behalf of Canadians who have signed this petition on the concept of marriage.
Recent court rulings have created a sense of public confusion on the definition of marriage and spouse. It is the intent of this petition to set the record straight and to ask parliament to accept the concept of marriage as the voluntary union of a single, unmarried male and a single, unmarried female.
Further, it asks parliamentarians to ensure that marriage, as it has always been known and understood in Canada, be preserved and protected.
I thank those who have signed this petition for representing their views to parliament. Today we have an opportunity to debate this issue—
PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
The hon. member for Peterborough.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the people in Peterborough who are concerned about children living in poverty.
They point out that thousands of children in Canada are not receiving the national child tax benefit. They believe that in Ontario, which has the highest child poverty rate in Canada, that all families should receive the national child tax benefit to help alleviate child poverty, and that it is time to amend the national child tax benefit so that no province in Canada will be allowed to claw it back.
Therefore, they urge the Parliament of Canada to amend the agreement with all provinces to allow all children living in poverty to receive the national child tax benefit to improve their quality of life.
Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have another petition here that reflects on child pornography, adding to the 140,000 that have already been brought to the House.
There are more than 3,000 signatures here from western Canada asking for parliament to ensure that the possession of child pornography be maintained as a severe crime.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on the subject of human rights signed by a number of Canadians, including from my own riding of Mississauga South.
The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that human rights abuses continue to be rampant around the world in countries such as Indonesia and Kosovo. They also acknowledge that Canada continues to be internationally recognized as a champion of human rights.
The petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to continue to speak out against such abuses, and also to seek to bring to justice those responsible for such abuses.
Keith Martin Reform Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, I, too, have thousands upon thousands of names of Canadians who are disgusted by child pornography and want parliament to take all the measures necessary to ensure that child pornography remains a serious criminal offence. They want to prompt the government to get its act in gear and start enacting laws that will cut out this nonsense.
Grant McNally Reform Dewdney—Alouette, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions on a similar theme. Hundreds of constituents from Dewdney—Alouette are horrified by child pornography and are astounded by the legal determinations that the possession of child pornography is not criminal.
They ask parliament to protect the most vulnerable members of society, our children, from sexual abuse and to take all necessary steps to ensure possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence.
The second petition asks that parliament amend the charter to prevent the development, purchase and ownership of child pornography.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have a large number of petitions to present. Over 30,000 petitioners are adding their names to the over 100,000 already presented.
The petitioners are petitioning parliament because they are horrified by the pornography that depicts children and are astounded by the legal determinations that possession of such pornography is not criminal. They say that it is the duty of parliament through the enactment and enforcement of the Criminal Code to protect the most vulnerable members of society from sexual abuse.
Therefore, they ask parliament to take all measures necessary to ensure that the possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence and that federal police officers be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of children.
Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House a petition containing the names of over 4,200 signators who claim that they are horrified by pornography that depicts children and are astounded by the legal determinations that possession of such pornography is not criminal.
Therefore, the petitioners pray that parliament will take all necessary measures to ensure that the possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence and that federal police forces be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of our children.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition that is signed by residents from across Canada. It states that grandparents, as a consequence of death, separation or divorce of their children, are often denied access to their grandchildren by their guardians, that the relationship that exists between grandparents and grandchildren is a natural and fundamental one, and that the denial of access can constitute elder abuse and can have a serious detrimental emotional impact on both grandparents and grandchildren.
Therefore, they petition parliament to amend the Divorce Act to include a provision, as supported in Bill C-340, regarding the right of spouses, parents and grandparents to have access to or custody of their children and grandchildren.
Bev Desjarlais NDP Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I rise to present a petition to add hundreds of signatures to those already presented from urban aboriginals in Ontario who are concerned about the federal government's downloading of housing to the provinces. They are concerned that the federal government is shirking its fiduciary obligation to aboriginal peoples.
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the following question will be answered today: No. 240. .[Text]
Question No. 240—
John Cummins Reform Delta—South Richmond, BC
Has the Veterans Review and Appeal Board ever been given the following information and, if so, when and by whom: ( a ) the reason that the day mefloquine was administered is referred to as psycho Tuesday or Wednesday, et cetera, by soldiers deployed to Somalia; ( b ) the March 1991 CF protocol entitled “Mefloquine Availability”, concerning (i) potential central nervous system side effects, (ii) lingering concerns in the U.S. army over CNS side effects, (iii) inadequate data and (iv) lack of Canadian forces experience with the drug; ( c ) the problems resulting from mefloquine use in the relief mission to Somalia as reported in January 1993 CF medical report entitled “Medical Post-Op Report—Op Relief”; ( d ) the problems resulting from mefloquine use in the deployment to Somalia as reported in the April 1993 CF medical report from HMCS Preserver entitled “Post Deployment Report Op Deliverance 16 November 1992—7 April 1993”; ( e ) the problems resulting from mefloquine use in the deployment to Somalia as reported in the October 1993 CF medical report entitled “Medical Operations in Somalia, Surgical Section”; ( f ) the evidence and findings of the Somalia Inquiry in regard to the effects of mefloquine on soldiers deployed to Somalia; ( g ) that the mefloquine administered to soldiers in the Somalia deployment was an unlicensed drug obtained through a clinical study; ( h ) that the Canadian forces failed to systematically monitor either efficacy or adverse reactions as required by the Food and Drug Act for each solder who received mefloquine in the Somalia deployment; and ( i ) that the death in 1994 of a Canadian soldier deployed to Somalia and then to Rwanda was found both by the Canadian forces and the United Nations to have been mefloquine related?
Bob Wood LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Veterans Affairs
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board adjudicated over 49,000 cases in the past five years and does not track the nature of the evidence presented in support of claims. As such, the board cannot state with certainty that the information described by the hon. member has not been before the board. However, to the best of our knowledge and recollection the only case where mefloquine was presented is the case referenced in the following paragraph (g).
(a) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(b) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(c) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(d) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(e) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(f) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board;
(g) Yes, Eric Marinacci, pensions advocate, Bureau of Pensions Advocates, provided the information described by the hon. member in paragraph (g) when presenting a particular case to a former board, the Canadian Pension Commission, on December 6, 1994. That case subsequently proceeded to appeal and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board received the information between September 15, 1995 and December 21, 1995 when it obtained the file from the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to prepare for the appeal;
(h) Yes, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board received the information on April 30, 1999 from the Auditor General of Canada in his report to the House of Commons dated April 1999; and
(i) No, to the best of our knowledge, unless it was given by an appellant in the course of a specific appeal before the board.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.