Debates of June 14th, 2000

Petitions

[Jean Augustine, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I present the following petitions.

The petitioners argue that 26 million passengers are serviced by Lester B. Pearson International Airport and that this number is due to double within the next few years.

The petitioners call upon parliament to enter into an agreement with the Greater Toronto Airport Authority and Nav Canada to ensure that the communities surrounding Pearson International Airport benefit from the development and timely adoption of noise reducing technologies and airport management procedures.

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a number of petitions containing 700 signatures. The petitions are from concerned Canadians, mostly from my constituency of Surrey Central.

The petitioners are asking why parliament was not recalled immediately to invoke section 33 of the charter of rights and Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause, to override the B.C. court decision and to ensure that the possession of child pornography in B.C. is illegal.

[Ghislain Fournier, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to table, on behalf of my fellow citizens of Manicouagan, a petition containing over 2,000 names.

This petition calls on parliament to take all the steps necessary to identify and recommend, as quickly as possible, specific ways to put an end to the unreasonable increase in the price of petroleum products and to regulate these prices permanently. The petitioners also ask parliament to take every measure to develop energy alternatives at affordable prices.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present two petitions this afternoon on matters that are most important and on the minds of Canadians. The first has to do with food safety and the question of genetically modified foods.

The petitioners call upon the government to implement legislation which would provide for the clear labelling of all genetically engineered seed and foods derived from or consisting of genetically engineered organisms.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the future of our health care system and our ability to ward against a two tier American style health care model.

The petitioners call upon the federal government to take immediate action to save public health care in Canada and to stop two tier American style health care from coming to Canada.

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present two petitions. The first petition comes from 2,500 Newfoundlanders from every part of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The petitioners are very disturbed and upset that the CBC nationally is cutting the supper hour news program Here and Now from one hour to half an hour. They ask parliament to intervene to protect the program, which is essential to the culture of our very large and sparsely populated province.

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition comes from a number of Newfoundlanders who make the case for the automatic harvesting of organs at death for transplant. The petitioners ask parliament to enact legislation to allow the automatic harvesting of organs at death for transplant, unless a specific request to the contrary has been made.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Mount Royal which deals with environmental protection and the protection of health.

The petitioners call upon parliament to enact an immediate moratorium on the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides until such time as their use has been scientifically proven to be safe and the long term consequences of their application are known.

This petition reflects the recommendation of the report of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development tabled on May 16, 2000, and it received unanimous support in the meeting of the residents of the constituency of Mount Royal on June 1, which also called upon the government to immediately adopt Private Member's Bill C-388 as a government bill.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition asking parliament to pass legislation to extend its sessions and reduce the time between them so they reflect a typical Canadian work year.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by 646 people in my riding.

The petitioners believe 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 from sexual abuse.

Therefore, the petitioners 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 our children.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval West, QC]

Madam Speaker, I wish to table a petition signed by 92 rural mail carriers who live in my riding of Laval West and surrounding regions in the Province of Quebec.

These persons feel that the Canada Post Corporation Act deprives rural mail carriers of the right to a collective agreement. They are therefore asking parliament to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to table two petitions, each signed by 75 people, calling for an improvement in the working conditions of rural letter carriers.

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by several hundreds of people who are calling on the federal government to do something about the increase in gasoline prices.

To date, over 5,000 of my constituents have signed this petition calling on the federal government to take action to bring down the price of gasoline.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present another petition from the people of Peterborough. They ask parliament to support the bioartificial kidney which will eventually eliminate the need for both dialysis or transplantation for those suffering from kidney disease.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in this petition the petitioners call upon parliament to legislate clear labelling on all genetically engineered seeds, foods and their byproducts available in Canada.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, this petition is from citizens of Peterborough who are concerned about the fact that statistics have not been systematically collected on abortion. They call upon parliament to act immediately to request the provision of Canada's annual statistics in this respect.

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present two petitions today.

The first is from the hardworking people of my riding who know that high taxes kill jobs, increase poverty, limit investment and reduce prosperity. The petitioners are calling for a major tax reduction of 25% over the next three years. Some 2,268 people have signed that petition.

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with the subject of child pornography. The petitioners ask that the government use the notwithstanding clause to override the B.C. Court of Appeal decision and reinstate subsection (4) of section 163.1 of the criminal code making possession of child pornography in B.C. illegal and by doing so reinforce and reaffirm our objection to the B.C. Court of Appeal decision. Some 3,093 hardworking people of Okanagan—Coquihalla have signed the petition.

[Charles Hubbard, Liberal, Miramichi, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have a petition signed by more than 600 people from New Brunswick. They draw to the attention of parliament that the present method of passenger transportation using highways is expensive, is often very dangerous and presents environmental pollution problems. Our economy could be greatly improved by the use of passenger service via railways which would improve the situation for senior citizens, for our youth and for tourism. They petition parliament to restore passenger rail service for the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and connections with the rest of Canada.

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table four petitions, one of which calls on the government to take action to bring gasoline prices down to a reasonable level for the consumer.

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I also wish to table three petitions containing 1,459 signatures calling on the government to make labelling of transgenic goods mandatory.

In my riding, a total of 16,000 signatures have been collected on this issue.

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure of tabling a petition containing 75 names requesting the labelling of foods containing genetically modified organisms.

[Eric C. Lowther, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present more petitions containing 32,000 more names of people from all across Canada who are dissatisfied with the government's inaction in protecting our most vulnerable from child pornography.

It has been almost a year and a half since the original Sharpe decision in B.C. which struck down the law against child pornography.

These petitions tabled today are added to the hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions already tabled. By a large margin it is the single largest petition tabled in the House of Commons in this parliament.

Mr. Speaker, I concur with these petitions.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member knows that it is quite out of order for him to make such comments on presentation of petitions. I know that when we draw to the end of the session, members want to comply with the rules in every respect.

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure of tabling a petition signed by 58 people in my riding calling for the withdrawal of Bill C-23 and a better definition of marriage.