House of Commons Hansard #77 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was man.
Bill Casey Progressive Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
The last testing which the Department of Transport did on seatbelts in school buses was 16 years ago. Since that time five states in the U.S. have made seatbelts on school buses mandatory. Thirty more have pending legislation on seatbelts for school buses.
Does the minister have any intention of bringing Canada up to standard on the school bus seatbelt issue?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that some jurisdictions have made seatbelts mandatory for school buses, but our officials at Transport Canada, who are world renown in their testing and methodology, are not yet convinced that making seatbelts compulsory in school buses would be in the public interest. We have to balance off the fact that even worse results could come from such accidents if young children were belted in and unable to get out in a very difficult situation. This is something which requires further study.
Lawrence O'Brien Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
I understand that Air Canada has launched its new schedule. Can the minister tell the House if these new services will deal with the overcrowding experienced on recent flights since the airline restructuring began?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, there have been a lot of concerns expressed by members of the House, especially from Atlantic Canada and western Canada. The president of Air Canada assures me that the new schedule which came into effect last night will deal with these particular problems.
We will be shortly announcing the appointment of an independent monitor to look at the entire restructuring process and also a new international charter policy which will not only provide greater opportunities for overseas services but also enhance domestic competition.
Bill C-26 is now before the House and I invite hon. members to help us design ways to better protect the consumers in the airline restructuring.
Grant McNally Reform Dewdney—Alouette, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to see the change of heart of the Minister of Veterans Affairs when it comes to ACOA.
When the party of Clark introduced it in 1988 he called it the Atlantic Canada overblown agency. The current heritage minister and the Deputy Prime Minister voted against it, and several others voted against it.
Why was it so bad then and so good now?
George Baker LiberalMinister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
Mr. Speaker, for weeks and months now the Reform-Conservative alliance has been demanding an end to all federal programs that have to do with creating employment in high unemployment areas, where people are on EI and we see a great many poor people with children.
This party has now gotten itself a niche in Canadian political philosophy, and that niche is solidly to the right of Attila the Hun.
Caroline St-Hilaire Bloc Longueuil, QC
Mr. Speaker, for the past few months, the RCMP has been asked to conduct several investigations, including nearly 20 on the files of the Department of Human Resources Development and a major one on CINAR.
My question is for the Solicitor General. Could he tell us whether he intends to make the reports of the investigations public when he gets them?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, if there is a complaint made to the RCMP and the RCMP investigate the complaint, that is the responsibility of the RCMP. The solicitor general does not, nor does any other minister, tell the RCMP how to conduct an investigation or what to do with investigations.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Canada will preside this month at the security council with a focus on human security. Will Canada finally speak up for the security of the people of Iraq, where over 500,000 children have died since 1990 as a result of inhumane UN sanctions? Will Canada call for the immediate lifting of these genocidal sanctions as recommended by former UN humanitarian co-ordinators Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck? Will we stop calling for studies and call for action to lift these sanctions now?
Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member probably knows, there was an agreement reached this weekend to provide additional access to $250 million for new equipment to go into Iraq so it can expand its oil pumping capacity.
Furthermore, one of the initiatives we have taken is to do a major review of all sanctions policy, including a case study of Iraq. We will be tabling this at the security council in about mid-April and then asking the council to have a major examination debate on the application and utility of sanctions, both the effect on the humanitarian civil side and how it tries to compel the behaviour to the standards of the United Nations. It is that balance that we have to maintain as part of the Canadian approach to human security.
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 11 petitions.
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 23rd report of the Standing Committee of Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, and I should like to move concurrence at this time.
(Motion agreed to)
Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege to present a petition signed by some 225 Canadians, residents of Vancouver Island, Calgary and Red Deer, who are overtaxed and demand that the Department of Human Resources Development account for its gross mismanagement of $3.2 billion annually.
The petitioners call for the resignation of the Minister of Human Resources Development and ask that the auditor general conduct a full and independent inquiry into HRDC mismanagement and accounting practices.
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions from Canadians who are concerned with the working arrangements of Canada Post drivers in rural areas. They petition parliament to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by hundreds of residents of British Columbia including my own constituency of Burnaby—Douglas on the subject of sanctions in Iraq.
The petitioners note that the sanctions are genocide as defined by the convention against genocide and take several hundred more lives each day, and that collective punishment is prohibited by international law.
They point out that one-fifth of the Iraqi population is currently starving to death in Iraq and 23% of all children in Iraq have stunted growth according to the UN FAO, and that the international law prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon even in times of war. They note that between August 1990 and August 1997 over one million Iraqi children died of embargo related causes according to UNICEF.
Therefore the petitioners call upon parliament to do two things: to recall all Canadian military personnel and equipment now taking part in the blockade of Iraq, and to use all possible diplomatic pressures to urge the UN to end the sanctions against Iraq.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present. One of them from the town of Carstairs deals with parliament fulfilling its promise of 1989 to end child poverty by the year 2000. It is falling way behind in that regard and the petitioners petition the government to do so.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have two more petitions that come from the areas of Cochrane, Beiseker, Acme, Strathmore and Airdrie. These are hundreds of signatures to be added to the thousands already on file calling on parliament to withdraw Bill C-23 immediately.
Mark Muise Progressive Conservative West Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I would like to present two petitions on behalf of my constituents who pray that parliament take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence.
Mark Muise Progressive Conservative West Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, I have three other petitions from my constituents who pray that parliament withdraw Bill C-23, affirm the opposite sex definition of marriage in legislation and ensure that marriage is recognized as a unique institution.
Eric C. Lowther Reform Calgary Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, I present a petition today. Signatures are coming into my office at a frantic rate of some 800 to 1,000 a day.
The petition calls upon parliament to withdraw Bill C-23 in light of the motion that was made on June 8, 1999, in the House to affirm and secure the definition of marriage. In light of what Bill C-23 does the petitioners call on parliament to withdraw it.
Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have hundreds of petitions to present which are signed by residents of my riding.
The petitioners remind us of the commitment made in 1989 with regard to child poverty in Canada. They ask us to make good on that commitment.
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.
The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-23, an act to modernize the Statutes of Canada in relation to benefits and obligations, as reported (with amendment) from the committee, and of the amendments in Group No. 1.