Debates of May 1st, 2000

Organized Crime

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the sidewinder was not shut down. It is as simple as that.

Order In Council Appointments

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, a number of order in council appointments made recently by the government.

Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 110 these are deemed referred to the appropriate standing committees, a list of which is attached.

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 I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 13 petitions.

Petitions

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition from tens of thousands of petitioners from my riding and throughout British Columbia.

The petitioners point out the need for a national highway system and that an improved national transportation infrastructure would lead to improved quality life for Canadians through greater productivity, trade opportunities, job creation and tourism.

They call upon parliament to do whatever it can to encourage the government to adopt a national highway system, to put into place a national highway policy and to provide adequate funding for highway development.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by a number of Canadians including from my riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that Canada has the second highest incidence of breast cancer in the world, second only to the United States; that the United States has had mandatory mammography quality assurance standards since October 1994; and that Canada has no legislation for mandatory quality assurance standards.

Therefore the petitioners ask 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.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today on the issue of marriage. One calls on the government to adopt Bill C-225 to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.

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

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today. In the first one the petitioners ask that parliament enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop and implement uniform mammography testing.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition asks that we withdraw Bill C-23, reaffirm the opposite sex definition of marriage in legislation, and recognize marriage as an institution.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is with regard to Yugoslavia. The petitioners ask that we put in some funds to help rebuild the entire country.

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the last petition the petitioners ask that the government reaffirm its 1989 resolution to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. They suggest that the federal government introduce a multi-year plan to improve and establish legislation for children.

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to table a petition signed by about 75 people of the Saint-Maurice Valley, in the ridings of Champlain and of Saint-Maurice, the Prime Minister's riding, and of Trois-Rivières of course.

The petitioners call on parliament to quickly pass legislation making it mandatory to label foods containing, partially or totally, genetically modified organisms. I call the attention of the House to the fact that hundreds of citizens from the Saint-Maurice Valley have already made such a request.

[John Harvard, Liberal, Charleswood—Assiniboine, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that is reflective of the concerns of many Canadians pursuant to nuclear weapons.

The petitioners point out that over 30,000 nuclear weapons exist around the world and that this huge stockpile of nuclear weapons poses a threat to the health and survival of human civilization and the global environment.

Therefore they pray and request that parliament support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

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

Mr. Speaker, the day before an opposition day on GMOs, I have the pleasure to table a petition signed by 108 people, mainly in my riding, calling on parliament to quickly pass legislation making it mandatory to label foods containing, partially or totally, genetically modified organisms.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also rise to present a petition with respect to genetically engineered foods.

These citizens call upon parliament to legislate clear labelling on all genetically engineered seeds, foods and their byproducts available in Canada and, further, that these products be banned from the market until they have been rigorously tested.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from a very large number of citizens in Peterborough who point out that increases in gas prices far exceed what we should be paying based on current prices for crude oil at the wellhead, resulting in the gouging of consumers at the gas pumps and negatively affecting the economy of Canada.

The petitioners call upon parliament to enact legislation to regulate standard gasoline prices across Canada.

[Werner Schmidt, Reform, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present, both of which are on the same subject but were sent on different days. There contain well over 400 names.

The petitioners are asking the government to recall Bill C-23, to affirm the opposite sex definition of marriage in legislation and to ensure that marriage be recognized as a unique institution.

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am submitting three petitions to the House of Commons.

The first is signed by 236 individuals who are concerned about the high incidence of breast cancer in Canada. They are petitioning parliament to enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce that uniform and mandatory mammographies meet quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by 298 members of the Highway Pentecostal Church in my riding who are concerned about child pornography.

They are petitioning parliament to take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence.

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is signed by 174 constituents in my riding who are petitioning parliament to withdraw Bill C-23.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition signed by over 3,000 Canadians who are desperately concerned about the lack of affordable and safe housing in Canada.

They call upon the federal government to recognize housing as a human right and to work with the provinces to ensure that 1% of the federal budget and the provincial budgets is dedicated to this most basic human right.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition signed by over 600 petitioners who draw attention to the fact that in 1989 the House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution to eliminate child poverty. Regrettably we are further from that decision today.

They call on the government to ensure that there are budgetary measures to meet the goals of ending child poverty in Canada.

[Reed Elley, Reform, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to rise in the House to present a petition on behalf of some constituents in my riding.

They ask 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.

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we add yet 27 more names to over 500,000 on the issue of child pornography.

These people are mostly from my riding. They are concerned that the government seems to be paralyzed into inaction in its failure to take action on the issue of child pornography. The petitioners urge the government to do something.

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of western Canadians who are disgusted with the lack of a national highway program.

Canada is the only country out of the 28 OECD countries in the world that does not have a national highway program. We have experienced very significant problems in western Canada such as deaths on the roads where we have not been able to twin them.

The petitioners are calling upon the House of Commons and the Liberal government to establish a national highway program which the federal government could fund to help build our country from coast to coast to coast. They are calling upon the government to do something quickly with respect to an action plan on building a national highway system.

[Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from my constituents. The petitioners ask 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.