House of Commons Hansard #48 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was company.

Topics

Presence In GalleryOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Summit Of The AmericasRoutine Proceedings

3 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, with leave of the House, I take this opportunity under subsection 32(2) of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons to table, in both official languages, the declaration and the plan of action report of the summit of the Americas.

Government Response To PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

April 25th, 2001 / 3:05 p.m.

Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario

Liberal

Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to 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 four petitions.

Interparliamentary DelegationsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34 I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, reports from the Canadian Branch, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, concerning the 50th commonwealth seminar which was held in London, the United Kingdom, from March 6 to March 17.

Mr. Speaker, this was the 50th seminar on parliamentary procedure and practice, something I know that you are most interested in. It was an opportunity to share experiences not only with members of parliament in the United Kingdom but with more than 20 commonwealth countries.

This is something the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has now been doing for 50 years and the possibility of sharing experience with more than 20 legislatures like our own is something that I recommend to all members of parliament.

Nuclear Fuel Waste ActRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Wascana Saskatchewan

Liberal

Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-27, an act respecting the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste.

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

Food And Drugs ActRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-338, an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (process for approval of new drugs).

Mr. Speaker, this is an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act specifically in regard to the approval of new drugs, because we are concerned that the approval process in this country is too long and too laboured. What we are asking Canada to do is to at least adopt the model used by the European Community, where on average drugs are approved at least six months ahead of ours.

We are also asking that the minister transfer funds from his existing budget into the approval process to expedite the approval of drugs so needed in Canada to help fight disease. In fact, these new drugs will eventually reduce the costs of health care.

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

Blue Water Bridge Authority ActRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Don Valley East Ontario

Liberal

David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport

moved that Bill S-5, an act to amend the Blue Water Bridge Authority Act, be read the first time.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting today a petition signed by residents of the city of Val-d'Or, the Vallée de l'Or RCM and workers at McWatters' Sigma-Lamague mine.

The petitioners are asking the government to make the rules governing existing programs more flexible and to ensure they are being used in resource regions.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon parliament to set up a financial assistance program for thin capitalization mines in Quebec's resource regions.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Wendy Lill NDP Dartmouth, NS

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions to the House today. One of them is a petition from over 200 Canadians across the country who are concerned that the Canadian government has been negotiating the FTAA in secret.

They believe that the clandestine nature of these negotiations must end. They are requesting that the documents of the FTAA agreement be made public for public democratic consultation.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Wendy Lill NDP Dartmouth, NS

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I would like to present is a petition from 3,000 Canadians who are concerned about the 1993 death of Tracey Latimer.

They are petitioning the Government of Canada to protect the rights of Canadian citizens, especially those with disabilities, by refusing to pardon Mr. Latimer from his conviction for second degree murder or from his sentence of life imprisonment without parole eligibility for at least 10 years, the minimum for that crime.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present yet another petition from people in the Peterborough area who want to re-establish VIA Rail service between Toronto and Peterborough.

They point to the environmental advantages of commuter service. It will reduce emissions, accidents and stress on the highways. It will also strengthen Peterborough as a centre for tourism, business and education and, by the way, as a commuter centre. Like four or five other MPs, I support this petition.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Second, Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition that is also from people in the Peterborough area. They are concerned about the sanctions against Iraq.

They point out that these sanctions are doing nothing with respect to Saddam Hussein and his government, but they are doing a great deal of damage to the people, particularly the children of Iraq. These people urge that these sanctions be lifted because they are doing nothing to persuade the government of Iraq to change its ways.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Last, Mr. Speaker, I would like to present another petition from Canadians concerned about kidney disease.

They say that real progress is being made in ways of preventing and coping with kidney disease, but they call upon parliament to encourage the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to explicitly include kidney research as one of the institutes in its system, that institute to be called the institute of kidney and urinary tract diseases.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario

Liberal

Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

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

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Here we go again. I have had a series of questions on the order paper for way over 45 days, which relate to the abuse of shell fishers by HRDC.

How much of this can we tolerate? This is not the first time, as you are well aware, Mr. Speaker, as I see you shaking your head in disgust at this member getting up time and time again.

When will the government respond in a timely fashion to these questions? It limits our abilities as members of parliament when we can put only four questions on the order paper. If we are talking about reforming the House, it can start over there with the House leader demanding that government ministers answer these questions in a timely fashion. That is all we are asking for.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

The Speaker

I want to assure the hon. member that I was shaking my head only in sorrow at his plight.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

Mr. Speaker, we do not want anyone to get too emotional about this, but I want to thank the hon. member for his representation. As usual, preparation of answers to written questions proceeds fairly expeditiously and we will get back to the House with an answer very soon.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

The Speaker

Is it agreed that all questions be allowed to stand?

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario

Liberal

Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to 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.

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

The Speaker

Is that agreed?

Motions For PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-3, an act to amend the Eldorado Nuclear Limited Reorganization and Divestiture Act and the Petro-Canada Public Participation Act, as reported (without amendment) from the committee.

Eldorado Nuclear Limited Reorganization And Divestiture ActGovernment Orders

3:15 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion Liberalfor the Minister of Natural Resources

moved that the bill be concurred in.

Eldorado Nuclear Limited Reorganization And Divestiture ActGovernment Orders

3:15 p.m.

The Speaker

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?