House of Commons Hansard #85 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
Joe McGuire LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I have the honour to table in both official languages the government's response to the first report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the Human Resources Development Canada accountability for shared social programs.
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As the House is well aware, on December 1, 1999 I tabled private member's Bill C-388, an act to prohibit the use of chemical pesticides for non-essential purposes. It was seconded by the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville. The House adopted it at first reading. This bill would amend the Pest Control Products Act as of April 22 which is recognized as Earth Day.
I am requesting the consent of the House of Commons to deem Bill C-388 votable, to deem it adopted at second reading and to refer it to the Standing Committee on Health.
Human Resources DevelopmentRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
Does the hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine have the unanimous consent of the House to put the motion?
David Iftody LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 1997-98 annual review of the implementation of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and copies of the 1998-99 annual report of the Indian Claims Commission.
Government Response To PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario
Liberal
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the standing orders I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 52 petitions.
George Proud Liberal Hillsborough, PE
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association which represented Canada at the meeting of the economic committee and the political committee held in Brussels and Paris, February 20 to 23, 2000.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report, “Ensuring Accountability: An Interim Report on the 1999 Internal Audit Report on Human Resources Development Canada Grants and Contributions”. I would like to point out that this is an interim report. It is the result of many weeks of hard and serious work by members from all parties on the committee. The standing committee will be presenting its final report by June 1.
Maurice Vellacott Reform Wanuskewin, SK
Mr. Speaker, in view of the gravity and the serious situation with HRDC, the opposition parties together felt there was no way we could accept that report. We are tabling a dissenting report unanimously. It is rather mind-boggling some of the things that were alleged to have happened, such as the misappropriation of funds, multiple criminal investigations, grants being approved after payments made, withholding of information, allegations of falsification of documents, and so on.
We felt that the majority report was simply glossing it over and not taking the situation seriously. As a result we want to get to the bottom of it for the good of the Canadian public and the better use of tax dollars. We oppose the report and we are tabling a dissenting report.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, in connection with this report, I would like to point out that—
Committees Of The HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)
In my opinion the opposition is able to present a dissenting report. We will need unanimous consent for any of the other opposition parties. Is there unanimous consent for the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques to present a dissenting report?
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
I thank hon. members for their support.
The important point is that the dissenting report is a unanimous report by all opposition parties, who noted that the parliamentary majority in the committee was following the government party line, that is downplaying the HRDC scandal.
Our report points out that action must be taken urgently, that it is urgent for the past situation to be remedied, not just to have a six point plan for the future. In this connection, the interim report will have to influence what is done in future in committee.
John Williams Reform St. Albert, AB
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-477, an act to provide for evaluations of statutory programs.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table this private member's bill which I think can provide a great benefit to Canadians and the Government of Canada. Basically it asks that all programs provided by the government and all services the government provides through its programs be evaluated on a periodic cyclical basis by asking four fundamental questions.
The first question would be what is the public policy the program is designed to address? Once that is known, the second question can be asked, how well are we achieving what we intend to achieve? The third question would be is it being done efficiently? The fourth question would be, can the same results be achieved in a better and more efficient way? The bill says all programs should be evaluated on a cyclical basis by asking those four fundamental questions.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadians who are horrified by pornography which depicts children. They are astounded by legal determinations that possession of such pornography is not criminal. They suggest that it is the duty of parliament through the enactment and enforcement of the criminal code to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
The petitioners call upon 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 that law.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens of the Peterborough area who are concerned about the sanctions against Iraq. They urge that we do all we can to stop the suffering and death among the Iraqi people, particularly the suffering and death of children and that, excluding an embargo on military materiel, all sanctions be lifted. They urge that Canada and the United Nations vastly increase efforts to provide food, medicine and funds to the people of Iraq.
Dennis Gruending NDP Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have a petition signed by approximately 750 people in the Saskatoon area. It relates to two families, the Irimie and Kutas families who suffered persecution in their country of origin and who fear that will happen to them again if they return home. They have exhausted all appeals and ask the minister and the House of Commons to please allow them to stay in Canada. Many people in Saskatoon have written to say that these people are model citizens and ask parliament that they be allowed to stay in Canada.
Raymond Lavigne Liberal Verdun—Saint-Henri, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a petition signed by a number of my constituents. The petitioners call upon the government to make it illegal for any company operating passenger trains to dump waste water along the tracks in our country. This practice constitutes a health risk to the population as well as an environmental mess. I therefore support this petition wholeheartedly.
Howard Hilstrom Reform Selkirk—Interlake, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from residents of Manitoba in regard to the same sex benefits bill. The petitioners say that this is an inappropriate intrusion and it is discriminatory for the federal government to extend benefits based on a person's private sexual activity. They would not like to see the bill pass through the houses of parliament.
Joe McGuire Liberal Egmont, PE
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 many petitioners from the province of Ontario state that since Canada has the second highest incidence rate of breast cancer in the world, they call 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.
Maurice Vellacott Reform Wanuskewin, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have just short of 1,000 names on a petition. These individuals draw attention to the significant empirical evidence for the value of marriage as the cornerstone of public policy producing real, tangible public policy benefits. They ask for the withdrawal of Bill C-23 which has extended marriage-like benefits to same sex couples. They ask that parliament, and it would be the upper house at this point, withdraw Bill C-23 and instead affirm the opposite sex definition of marriage in legislation and ensure that marriage is recognized as a unique institution and the cornerstone of public policy.
David Iftody Liberal Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present this morning. The first petition concerns Bill C-23.
The petitioners draw the attention of the House to a motion passed on June 8, 1999 reaffirming the House's position that marriage is the exclusive domain of a male and a female.
They also draw the attention of the House to the introduction of Bill C-23, and the fact that there was not a free vote. They ask, pray and petition the House and the Chair that Bill C-23 hereby be withdrawn.
David Iftody Liberal Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, the next two petitions I have address the same topic.
On November 24, 1989 the House of Commons unanimously resolved to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Since 1989 the number of poor children in Canada has increased by 60%.
Therefore, these many petitioners call upon parliament to use the federal budget 2000 to introduce a multi-year plan to improve the well-being of Canada's children.
Benoît Sauvageau Bloc Repentigny, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have here a petition signed by a number of people in my riding. The petitioners call upon Parliament to take all steps necessary to guarantee that the possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence, and that federal law enforcement authorities are ordered to give priority to enforcing this provision, for the protection of our children.
I wish to table this petition on their behalf.