Debates of March 29th, 2000

Business Of The House

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Government Response To Petitions

[Derek Lee, 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 22 petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Sarmite Bulte, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34 I have the honour to present to the House reports from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the Conference on Parliament and the Media, Building an Effective Relationship which was held from February 14 to February 19, 2000 in New Delhi, India, and the 49th Commonwealth Seminar which was held in Westminster, United Kingdom from March 7 to March 18, 2000.

Committees Of The House

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present in both official languages the third report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) the committee recommends that it be granted leave to travel from April 30 to May 10, 2000 to Quebec, New Brunswick, Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador and P.E.I. to continue its comprehensive study on aquaculture, its statutory review of the oceans act and of fisheries issues, and that the committee be composed of two Canadian Alliance members, one Bloc member, one NDP member, one PC member and five Liberals and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 123(1) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Joint Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations concerning subsection 36(2) of the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989.

The committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report as soon as possible.

Canada Post Corporation Act

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-466, an act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Halifax West for seconding this very important private member's bill which is now before the House.

As Canadians pay their taxes to government and to all official levels, one little annoying thing they have to do is to put a postage stamp on the envelope when they send it to Revenue Canada. I believe they should be able to send those remittances postage free.

This private member's bill will have sweeping endorsement by all political parties in the House of Commons and will be passed fairly quickly. I thank all hon. members for their nodding support at this time and, when it comes up for debate, for their unanimous consent in the House and in other place.

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

Income Tax Act

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-467, an act to amend the Income Tax Act.

Mr. Speaker, again I thank the hon. member for Halifax West for seconding this bill, which is a step in the NDP advancement toward getting taxes down for members of community volunteer groups, in essence saying that what they do for Canada in terms of volunteerism is very important.

When this bill gets sweeping endorsement from all political parties, it will allow members of recognized service groups, such as the Lions, the Kiwanis, the Knights of Columbus, et cetera, to claim as tax deductions on their income tax returns the dues they pay to those organizations on a yearly basis.

I know you will endorse the bill, Mr. Speaker, as well as the other members of the House and of the other place.

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

Petitions

[Peter Goldring, Reform, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I take great pride in presenting a petition put forth by 2,500 concerned Canadians, mostly from the province of Quebec.

The petitioners ask the government to affirm that all Canadians are equal under all circumstances and without exception in the province of Quebec and throughout Canada.

They wish to remind the government only to enact legislation that affirms the equality of each and every individual under the laws of Canada.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)]

Quite a few members have petitions to present today. I ask them to make a summary of their petitions and not read them.

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition signed by residents of the Bothwell, Alvinston and Sarnia area.

They urge the government to amend the BNA Act to allow the province of Ontario to fund and maintain one school system.

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition concerning rural route mail couriers.

Rural route mail couriers are quite often earning below minimum wage and working in less than ideal situations. They do not have the right to collective bargaining as do other carriers in urban areas and in the private sector.

Subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act prevents them from having these rights, and the petitioners urge the House to repeal that subsection.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to table a petition signed by 503 people calling on parliament to quickly pass legislation making it mandatory to label all foods that are totally or partially genetically modified.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to submit a petition signed by residents of Ottawa and the area.

As Canada has the second highest incidence rate of breast cancer in the world, the petitioners are asking the Canadian parliament to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce uniform and mandatory mammography quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 and on behalf of a number of my constituents I would like to present a petition.

The petitioners ask parliament to withdraw Bill C-23, affirm the opposite sex definition of marriage in legislation and ensure that marriage is recognized as a unique institution.

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of people in the Meaford, Fonthill, Welland and Port Colborne areas of Ontario seeking parliamentary support for the development, implementation and enforcement of uniform and mandatory mammography quality assurance in Canada.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition signed by 60 people, mostly from my riding of Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans, calling on parliament to quickly pass legislation making it mandatory to label all foods that are totally or partially genetically modified.

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition under Standing Order 36 signed by many citizens from the Summerside, Kensington and Miscouche areas.

They pray 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 children.

Questions On The Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Questions Nos. 67 and 75. .[Text]

Question No. 67—

[Michelle Dockrill, NDP, Bras D'Or, NS]

For the period covering January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1999, what are the specifics of remuneration for members of the board of directors at the Cape Breton Development Corporation?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Number of directors:

1994-95; 7 1995-96; 6 1996-97; 7 1997-98; 6 1998-99; 6 1999-2000; 6

On remuneration, each director receives an annual retainer of $3,000; plus $325 per diem for attendance at meetings of the board or any committee thereof; plus expenses.

Question No. 75—

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Lakeland, AB]

How much money have Canadian farmers lost due to crop loses since the government's ban of the 2% and 5% solutions of strychnine left them unable to effectively control the gopher populations?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

There has been limited, if any, economic loss to Canadian farmers due to restrictions on the use of strychnine based rodenticides for the following reasons: strychnine based poisons are available to licensed applicators; anti-coagulants are readily available; strychnine poison alone is not an effective control measure; and an integrated strategy for controlling pocket gophers is recommended and is the most effective method.

Each province has regulations for the use of strychnine. In Saskatchewan, for example, the sale of strychnine is restricted to pest control operators, farmers and persons authorized in government approved pest control programs where the vendor maintains a record of sales including the name, address and signature of the purchaser along with the quantity of product purchased. The vendor, who in this case is Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, may have further restrictions.

The annual losses in yield reductions and equipment breakdown from pocket gophers for the province of Alberta has been estimated at $14 million to $30 million annually. For the province of Manitoba losses are estimated at $15 million annually. No published data could be located for economic losses Canada-wide. In 1997, 3.5 million to 5 million hectares of forage, primarily alfalfa, in western Canada was infested with pocket gophers. The reductions in productivity and damage to equipment are significant and control is necessary.

Control of pocket gophers requires an integrated approach. There are various types of control methods to reduce pocket gopher populations. Control methods include trapping, gassing, flooding, exclusion, encouraging natural enemies, and poisoning. Trapping has proven to be an extremely effective control but is labour intensive and is limited in the area one can control. Physical control can include removing the food source, using pets to discourage entrance into a yard, and noises, disturbing noise placed in the burrow. Buffer zones are effective in isolating certain areas from pocket gophers. An example of a buffer could include spraying the surrounding area with a broadleaf herbicide which would eliminate the pocket gopher's food source. Natural predators such as owls and snakes will assist in control of pocket gophers, providing their existence is promoted and encouraged.

There are three types of rodenticides available on the market to control pocket gophers: strychnine based, zinc phosphide based and anti-coagulants. Strychnine and zinc phosphide are both restricted and generally limited to use by licensed pesticide applicators. Anti-coagulants are readily available to everyone. Pocket gophers are very sensitive to the taste of poisons and readily reject or limit intake of many poisons. They also have an ability to metabolize certain amounts of these poisons and there have been reports of resistance to poisons if provided in sub-lethal doses. Field studies have shown that using strychnine or zinc phosphide based poisons controlled 35% or less of treated pocket gopher populations.

The recommended method of controlling pocket gophers is called a border control strategy. This is used on fields which were seeded in the last three years. This strategy requires the trapping of gophers in the center of the field—new fields are recommended as populations of gophers are low—and setting up permanent control around the perimeter of the field using traps alone or a combination of traps and bait set in existing burrows. This strategy prevents pocket gophers from entering a clean field.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.