Debates of March 22nd, 2000

Division No. 1217

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

On division.

(Title agreed to)

(Bill reported)

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

moved that the bill be concurred in.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Bob Kilger, Liberal, Stormont—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank all my colleagues, the whips of the various parties, for their co-operation tonight. You will find there is unanimous consent that members who voted on the previous motion be recorded as having voted on the motion now before the House, with Liberal members voting yea.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is there unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we still do not like it and we will still vote no.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois members are opposed to this motion.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, members of the NDP present will vote no to this motion.

[André Harvey, Progressive Conservative, Chicoutimi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Progressive Conservative members will note nay on the motion.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Division No. 1218

[The Deputy Speaker]

I declare the motion carried. When shall the bill be read the third time? By leave, now?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Deputy Speaker]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Deputy Speaker]

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And more than five members having risen:

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Division No. 1219

[The Deputy Speaker]

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

It being 7.45 p.m., the House will now proceed to consideration of Private Members' Business as per today's OrderPaper.

Act Of Incorporation Of The Board Of Elders Of The Canadian District Of The Moravian Church In America

[Dale Johnston, Reform, Wetaskiwin, AB]

moved that Bill S-14, an act to amend the act of incorporation of the Board of Elders of the Canadian District of the Moravian Church in America, be read the second time and referred to a legislative committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we have been able to bring this item to the House today.

Bill S-14 corrects some technical anomalies in the incorporation of the Moravian Church in America. It seeks to modify the long title of the French version and it gives the board of elders of the Moravian Church a name. It removes restrictions on the board's investment powers as well.

The hour is late and I am only going to take a few minutes for this. For those who are unfamiliar with the Moravian Church, it was founded almost 500 years ago in the area that we know as Czechoslovakia. It is similar to the Mennonite Church in some aspects. The Moravians are renowned for their missionary work. It was to pursue this vocation that they came to Canada and Labrador in the beginning.

In 1909 an act of the Parliament of Canada established the Moravian Church as a legal entity. One of the clauses of incorporation precluded the church from owning property worth no more than $50,000. In 1952 the church approached parliament to have this limit increased to $500,000 and it was done at that time. In 1986 the elders of the Moravian Church started a process to have the clause removed altogether.

We can see that they have been at this for a long time and they have been waiting very patiently for this to come about. They have complied with all of the requirements and advertised their plans in the requisite publications at considerable expense to themselves. It is fairly significant that no objections were ever raised to their intentions to do this.

Since that time they have endured several parliamentary delays, none of which was any fault of their own. As legislation of this nature generally originates in the Senate, the late Walter Twinn, who was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party at the time, took up the cause back in 1992.

Legislative scheduling and other delays in the Senate, not the least of which were the elections in 1993 and 1997, and then of course the sudden passing of Senator Twinn, all played a part in holding up passage of the bill.

Last fall it came to the attention of Alberta Liberal Senator Nick Taylor who successfully piloted the bill through the other place just before the Christmas recess.

Now with Reform sponsoring the bill in the House of Commons it is truly one that is non-partisan. In the spirit of that non-partisan co-operation, Mr. Speaker, I think that you would find that there would be unanimous consent, should you seek it, for the following motion. I move:

That notwithstanding any standing order and the usual practices of the House, Bill S-14, an act to amend the Act of incorporation of the Board of Elders of the Canadian District of the Moravian Church in America, be now called for second reading, and that the House do proceed to dispose of the bill at all stages, including committee of the whole.

The members of the Moravian Church have waited a long time for parliament to deal with this simple request. It is a pleasure for me to be here to see it happen today. Thank you for the co-operation of all the people involved.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?