Debates of Oct. 31st, 2001

Yukon Act

[Bob Nault, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-39, an act to replace the Yukon Act in order to modernize it and to implement certain provisions of the Yukon Northern Affairs Program Devolution Transfer Agreement, and to repeal and make amendments to other acts.

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

Committees of the House

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the issue of the sugar industry.

This represents the third report of the subcommittee on international trade, trade disputes and investment.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

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

Pursuant to section 52 of the Oceans Act the committee has completed its review of the Oceans Act and we ask the government to respond within the prescribed timeframe.

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, September 27, 2001, your committee examined Bill C-33, an act respecting the water resources of Nunavut and the Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal and to make consequential amendments to other acts, and has agreed to report it with amendments.

I wish to thank all committee members and support staff for their great work.

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 34 of the Auditor General of Canada's report of December 2000, entitled “Other Audit Observations—Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and Human Resources Development Canada”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 the committee asks the government to table a comprehensive response to this report.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 35th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the associate membership of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations, and I should like to move concurrence at this time.

(Motion agreed to)

Business of the House

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there has been consultation among House leaders and I think you would find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding the order of September 26, 2001, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights be instructed to report Bill C-15B no later than Thursday, December 6, 2001; and

That the House shall not sit on November 23, 2001, provided that, if any bill is reported from committee on November 22, 2001, the report stage of the said bill may be taken up on or after November 26, 2001 and notices of proposed amendments at the said report stage may be given at any time before 2 p.m. on November 23, 2001 and shall be duly printed in the Order Paper and Notice Paper for November 26, 2001; and

That, notwithstanding the calendar tabled by the Speaker pursuant to Standing Order 28(2)(b), the sitting weeks between the last Monday in January and the Monday following Easter Monday in 2002 shall be the weeks commencing January 28, February 4, February 18, February 25, March 11 and March 18.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am honoured to present this petition on behalf of constituents living in Grand Bend and Forest in the riding of Lambton--Kent--Middlesex.

The petitioners call upon parliament to protect the health of seniors, children and the environment by banning the gas additive MMT. The use of MMT in gasoline results in significantly higher smog producing hydrocarbon emissions and enhances global warming.

[Gurmant Grewal, Canadian Alliance, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this petition which is signed by many concerned constituents of mine urges media outlets and the CRTC to act together in taking the desires of parents into account and reducing the amount of sexual and violent content in the media.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I would like to present a petition on behalf of a number of signators who are concerned about foods that are genetically modified or contain genetically modified material.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Canadian Alliance, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions I would like to present at this time. The first comes from many people throughout the province of Ontario who appeal to the House of Commons with respect to the human rights violations taking place in China.

The petitioners urge us to take immediate action to urge China to free Canadian Shenli Lin and all Falun Gong practitioners, and to stop the persecution and mass killing of Falun Gong practitioners.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Canadian Alliance, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have the pleasure of presenting comes from my own constituency. It is a result of the great tragedy that has befallen our world with the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City and the destruction of a portion of the Pentagon.

They say Canadians are peace loving people. There is a considerable preamble which I do not have time to read. However the petitioners encourage parliament to reject senseless acts of retaliation as they would not repair the damage or bring back those who are lost. Massive retaliation would only perpetuate a violent barbaric cycle fuelled by hatred and ignorance.

The petitioners encourage us to explore peaceful means of assisting the United States and to explore ways we can prevent the harbouring of terrorists in our great country.

[Rahim Jaffer, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I too have a petition to present to the House pursuant to Standing Order 36. The petition has just over 100 names and encourages the Canadian government to take immediate action to urge China to release Falun Gong practitioners who are being persecuted and to stop the persecution immediately.

It also urges the establishment of Canada's SOS rescue team to travel to China for an international investigation to help stop the persecution.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise to present two quite different petitions which relate to the same topic. The petitions relate to end stage kidney disease. They have been developed in the Peterborough area by Ken Sharp, a person who has been on kidney dialysis his entire adult life.

The first petition deals with support for research regarding the bioartificial kidney. As we know, the bioartificial kidney is an experimental implant device which would greatly improve the situation of those who have end stage kidney disease.

The petitioners call on parliament to support the bioartificial kidney which would eventually eliminate the need for both dialysis and transplantation for those suffering from kidney disease.

My second petition, as I said, is related but is quite different. It concerns the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and its Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes which does wonderful work for kidney research.

Many of my constituents believe that work would be more effective if the name of the institute included the word kidney. They call on parliament to encourage the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to explicitly include kidney research as one of the institutes in its system. They ask that it be named the Institute of Kidney and Urinary Tract Diseases.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, would you be so kind as to call Starred Question No. 71.

*Question No. 71

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, QC]

From 1990 to 2000, for each year and for each province and territory: ( a ) what volume of gold was produced and what were the extraction costs; ( b ) what was the financial value of the gold produced; and ( c ) what quantity of the gold produced was sold by the Bank of Canada?

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if the answer to Question No. 71 could be made an order for return, the return would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Return tabled)

Questions on the Order Paper

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions for Papers

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.