Debates of March 20th, 2000

Point Of Order

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when I replied to a question during question period, I should have said the interprovincial summer job exchange program instead of Experience Canada.

[The Speaker]

The correction is made.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Secretary of State (Amateur Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, I went a bit too far when I said that the official opposition did not view amateur sport as a priority.

I wish to apologize publicly because I know that members of the House have worked very hard, particularly on the subcommittee on the study of sport in Canada. I also wish to apologize to all opposition party members who might have been offended.

Government Response To Petitions

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

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

Petitions

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today.

The first petition contains 100 signatures of people in Golden, which is part of my constituency. The petition calls on parliament to take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence. This petition joins about 300,000 other signatures.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I am pleased to present is on behalf of students from the College of the Rockies. The petitioners call on the government to restore $3.7 billion in transfer payments to the provinces for post-secondary education and other issues relating to that.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I take particular pride in presenting the third petition with 240 signatures.

This petition was put together by students at Elkford Senior Secondary School. They draw to the attention of the House that during World War I in 1914 to 1918 certain members of the Canadian expeditionary force were executed for cowardice and desertion.

They call on parliament to pardon the soldiers of the 2076 Company Quartermaster.

I take particular pleasure in presenting this petition on their behalf as they are young people who are starting to take part in our great democratic process.

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the privilege to present to the House a petition from concerned citizens of my riding of Cambridge. Over 600 of my constituents have signed this petition.

The petitioners pray and request that the Parliament of Canada act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child. They seek an amendment to the criminal code to extend the same protection to unborn human beings that is currently enjoyed by born human beings.

Mr. Speaker, I know that you will not agree, but I fully support my constituents.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which is signed by several hundred residents of the province of British Columbia on the issue of rural route mail couriers.

The petition notes that these people often earn less than the minimum wage and have working conditions reminiscent of another era; that they have not been allowed to bargain collectively to improve their wages and working conditions like other workers; that private sector workers who deliver mail in rural areas have collective bargaining rights as do public sector workers who deliver mail for Canada Post in urban areas; that section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act prohibits these people from having collective bargaining rights; that this denial of basic rights helps Canada Post keep the wages and working conditions at an unfair level and discriminates against rural workers.

The petitioners therefore call on parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act, a call that I fully support.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas is an experienced member of the House and he knows that it is quite out of order to state whether he supports or opposes a petition. He should not looked so shocked because I know he has heard this many times before. He said whether I agreed. That was irrelevant. I know the hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas will want to refrain from such conduct in the future.

[Lou Sekora, Liberal, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition today signed by many B.C. residents concerning the high level of child poverty in this country. One in every five children live in poverty. We must work together to improve the lives of these children who live in poverty.

[Werner Schmidt, Reform, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions both dealing with the same subject. I will only read one of them.

It states “Your petitioners pray that parliament take all measures necessary 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 children”.

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition pertaining to the Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline practised in China which, according to its followers, leads to improved physical and mental health.

The petitioners are calling upon the Parliament of Canada to continue urging the Chinese government to release all arrested Falun Dafa practitioners in China immediately, to lift the ban on this spiritual discipline, to withdraw the international arrest warrant for Mr. Li Hongzhi, who founded the movement, and to achieve a peaceful resolution through open dialogue.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to table today pursuant to Standing Order 36.

The first petition is one that has been presented many times before. It deals with the resolution adopted unanimously by the House on November 4, 1989 to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. This petition contains some twenty signatures.

I took note of the remark you made to the opposition members saying that they should not indicate if they support a petition or not, so I will not give my opinion on this particular petition.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is similar to the one tabled by the NDP member.

It deals with those people who deliver mail in rural areas. The petitioners are calling upon the House and Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act to allow these people to unionize, to form a bargaining unit and to negotiate with Canada Post to improve their working conditions.

This petition contains some 20 signatures.

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition calling on parliament to take the necessary steps not to proceed with any plans to import plutonium into Canada.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today I have a petition signed by 142 people in my riding of Red Deer.

The petitioners call on parliament to give Canadian taxpayers a break by instituting tax relief of at least 25% in federal taxes over the next three years, starting with the next federal budget.

This is a sentiment that I think we hear right across the country.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from the citizens of Peterborough who are concerned about the genetic engineering of food, plants and animals. They point out that this is a practice that is still relatively new but one which is expanding very quickly and the long term effects are very difficult to predict.

The petitioners say that consumers have a right to know whether or not food and seeds are genetically engineered. They call on parliament to use the federal authority to ensure that choice in both seeds and food products is available between genetically engineered and non-genetically engineered food.

I am glad to present this petition.

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present.

In the first, the petitioners are calling upon parliament to enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce uniform mandatory mammography quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition, signed by a number of people in my riding, urges parliament to fulfill the 1989 promise of the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition which draws parliament's attention to the fact that Canada has the second highest rate of breast cancer in the world, next only to that of the United States. Early detection is the only known weapon in the battle against this disease. The petition calls upon parliament to enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce uniform and mandatory mammography quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from rural route mail carriers. They point out that they do not have the same collective bargaining rights as public service employees of Canada Post Corporation or private contractors. They are asking parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, York North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition which calls upon parliament to enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce uniform and mandatory mammography quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, York North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition which calls upon parliament to fulfill the 1989 promise of the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000, which is this year.

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, York North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition which calls upon the House of Commons and parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act to bring fairness to the rural route mail couriers.