House of Commons Hansard #128 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions.
Jean Augustine Liberal Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, entitled “Canada and the North American Challenge”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee considered the issue of North American integration and Canada's role in the light of the new security challenges and is pleased to table this report and to offer thanks to all those who participated as witnesses.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which is signed by hundreds of residents, Canadians across the country, that notes that Canadians do not wish to be a party to a policy that kills over 5,000 Iraqi children every month. They note that the foreign affairs committee unanimously in the last parliament urgently recommended that the government pursue the de-linking of economic from military sanctions with a view to rapidly lifting economic sanctions in order to significantly improve the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people. Therefore, the petitioners call upon parliament and the Prime Minister to act on the recommendations of the standing committee and to urgently pursue the rapid lifting of the economic sanctions in Iraq.
I would note that this was co-ordinated by Irene MacInnes of the campaign to end the sanctions against the people of Iraq, CANESI, and they have done outstanding work in this regard.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to present two petitions from citizens in the Peterborough area who are supporters of Bill C-287, an act to amend the Food and Drug Act re genetically modified food. These people support mandatory labelling that would allow research and post-release monitoring of potential health effects of genetically modified food. They see this as applying to all stages of sale. It would require the genetic history of a food or ingredient to be recorded and traced through all stages of distribution, manufacturer processing, packaging and sale.
These petitioners call upon parliament to accept the principles of Bill C-287 and allow all residents of Canada the right to decide whether to purchase products containing modified material.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present three petitions from constituents and others concerned about the future of the country.
The first pertains to a matter raised in the House dealing with the harmful effects related to food and drug consumption. The petitioners call upon parliament to mandate the labelling of alcoholic products to warn pregnant women and other persons of dangers associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with the current global situation we are facing in the aftermath of September 11. The petitioners call upon parliament to lend full support to the United States of America in seeking a non-violent resolution to the crisis facing our world. They also request that Canada not support the use of military force or any action that will result in harm to innocent people.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the third petition pertains to Canada's support for the U.S. national missile defence program. The petitioners call upon parliament to declare that Canada objects to the national missile defence program of the United States and that Canada play a leadership role in banning nuclear weapons and missile flight tests.
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present a petition.
Before its discontinuance, VIA Rail Atlantic, linking Halifax and Montreal through southwestern New Brunswick, was a successful service with 66% occupancy and 336 passengers handled each time it travelled. Given the increasing scarcity and price of fossil fuels and our concerns over health related air quality issues, the petitioners request that the House of Commons, through Transport Canada and the federal crown corporation VIA Rail, restore passenger service linking Saint John and Fredericton westward through Sherbrooke to Montreal and east through Moncton to Halifax.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present four petitions today.
The first one concerns petitioners who are drawing to our attention the importance of post-secondary education and the need to ensure that there is adequate funding. They point out in the petition that there has been an increase in tuition fees of 126% since 1990. The petitioners call upon the federal government to institute, among other things, a national system of grants.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from petitioners who are drawing to our attention the very important issue that Canada is the third largest producer of genetically modified crops in the world. The petitioners call upon parliament to support mandatory labelling of genetically modified foods as outlined in private members' bills and other motions and ask that this be done through Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure that Canadians are well aware of what it is that they are buying and what it is that they are eating.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, the third petition pertains to an issue about endangered and missing adults. We are certainly familiar with missing children and the fact that there is a national registry, but this petition calls upon parliament to pass a bill which would establish a national clearing house for missing, at risk and/or endangered adults.
This is something that the petitioners believe is critical, particularly in light of the situation on the downtown east side where now up to 50 women are listed as missing and investigations continue.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition pertains to the issue of the penalty that Mr. Robert Latimer is being forced to serve and calls for a reduced penalty for Mr. Latimer in that he in no way intended harm. The petitioners call for the Parliament of Canada to provide leniency in this matter.
Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, Question No. 80 will be answered today.
Garry Breitkreuz Canadian Alliance Yorkton—Melville, SK
Concerning the costs and revenues of the Canadian Firearms Program: ( a ) what was the original budget allocation for the Canadian Firearms Program at the start of fiscal year 2000-01; ( b ) what were the dates and the total amounts of the submissions made to Treasury Board for additional funds for fiscal year 2000-01; ( c ) what is the explanation of the discrepancy between the justice department year-end financial statements showing total spending on the Canadian Firearms Program for 2000-01 of $200,394,023 less revenues of $34,969,459 for total net expenditures of $165,424,564 and the fact that these expenditures do not fully account for the $206,281,919 allocated to the Canadian Firearms Program in 2000-01 through the Governor General Special Warrants and through the supplementary estimates (A) and (B); and ( d ) what impact will the early registration incentive program have on the government's promise that user fees would cover the entire cost of the program?
Stephen Owen LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
a
) The original budget allocation for the Canadian firearms programs at the start of the 2000-01 fiscal year was $34,611,057.
Main Estimates: contribution item reflected in main estimates, $10,390,330; base funding included in the Law and Policy Business line in main estimates, $24,220,727; total, $34,611,057. b ) At the meeting of June 15, 2000, the treasury board approved additional funds for the 2000-01 fiscal year.
There were no supplementary estimates (B) in 2000-01.
All amounts for the 2000-01 fiscal year for the Canadian firearms program are as follows: main estimates, $34,611,057; Governor General Warrants, $96,148,400; supplementary estimates (A), $49,831,000; TB approved—internal departmental adjustments, $10,347,000; miscellaneous technical adjustments, $39,296; statutory vote—employee benefit plan, $9,500,253; total, $200,398,414. c ) The amount allocated to the Canadian firearms program for the 2000-01 fiscal year was $200,398,414. The amount declared by the Department of Justice year-end financial statements for the 2000-01 fiscal year was $200,394,023.
The full amount allocated was not spent in its entirety and left the Canadian firearms program with an unspent balance of $4,391 at the end of the 2000-01 fiscal year. d ) In respect to the regulations amending the firearms fees regulation, the impact on revenues would be more than offset by the enhanced security afforded to Canadians. Furthermore, the registration fee waiver is a temporary measure designed to encourage early compliance and is intended to reduce costs by effectively managing the receipt of registration applications and their processing.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
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 amend the Competition Act and the Competition Tribunal Act, be read the third time and passed.
Guy St-Julien Liberal Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a comment and ask a question.
First, I would like to thank the Liberal member for Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge for his skill and hard work. We are aware of the fact that he has been working in the field of competition for several years now. He is the driving force behind this bill and numerous reforms of the Competition Act in general.
Will Canadian consumers be well served by these changes? Could the Liberal member give us his thoughts on gas prices in Canada today?
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague and friend, the hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik. It is agreed that one of the purposes of this bill is to ensure that the consumer has more of a voice and perhaps more opportunity to benefit from the Competition Act.
That said, it is thanks to the phenomenon we have seen in this committee that the members were able to ensure the presence of safeguards, not just to protect the consumer, but also to ensure that abuse of the system, and frivolous cases are not included.
One more thing: This is not the end of the process. In connection with the reform of the Competition Act, we plan to at least make changes with respect to collusion. This is, of course, a really important aspect of this legislation. At present, the committee is in the process of thinking about changing the term “unduly”, mentioned earlier in the other debates.
I would like to touch on the gasoline question. Although the price of gas is 48 or 49 cents a litre in certain regions, I am not complaining. When an independent has to buy it at 54 cents, however, it is obvious that something is not working right. Only the people with the deepest pockets are going to survive. There are still consequences, then, but a small change will come about with this bill, or at least I hope it will.
Question No. 80—Government Orders
The Deputy Speaker
The question is on Bill C-23 at third reading. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?