House of Commons Hansard #51 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.
Food InspectionOral Question Period
Prince Edward—Hastings Ontario
Liberal
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, Canadians can be very proud of our food inspection system. It is one of the best, if not the best, in the world.
We are constantly looking however at improving that. We work with the industry. We work with Health Canada and all others involved in the food inspection system to ensure that it is as safe as it can possibly be.
Georges Farrah Liberal Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-De-La-Madeleine—Pabok, QC
Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges Canada will be facing in the 21st century will be to ensure the economic development of all its regions. Our young people are the future of our regions.
What action does the minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada plan to take to stem the exodus of our young people from the regions?
Martin Cauchon LiberalMinister of National Revenue and Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)
Mr.Speaker, this is indeed a very important question concerning regional development, particularly development of the resource regions, which are of enormous concern to us. The issue of retaining our young people in the regions is also of concern to us in order for them to be there to develop businesses.
Since 1997 moreover we have had a specific program, a youth fund, in conjunction with the community development societies. Today we have 1,516 entrepreneurs running a total of 1,244 businesses in the regions.
Over 4,500 jobs have thus been created or maintained. Since November 1997 in excess of $15 million has been invested in this fund to maintain and develop all of our regions.
Keith Martin Canadian Alliance Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, Zimbabwe has the fastest collapsing economy in the world and human rights abuses are rampant, all because Robert Mugabe is trying to stay in power.
My question for the Minister of Foreign Affairs is simple. Will he bring this issue up with the security council? Will he mobilize an international response to put pressure on the Zimbabwe government to stop these human rights abuses and let democracy rule?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, Canada is no longer on the security council. However the issue with respect to Zimbabwe did arise at the most recent meeting of the Commonwealth ministers action group. It was proposed at that time by CMAG that a delegation of ministers go to Zimbabwe in order to meet with the government and discuss the situation there.
The hon. member will know that the government of Zimbabwe rejected the request for the CMAG delegation to attend there. I am sure this will be a matter of concern to the Commonwealth heads of government when they meet later this year in Australia.
Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, last week representatives of the western and Maritime provinces appeared before the Standing Committee on Justice to testify with respect to Bill C-7.
All those wanting changes, according to the minister, have said the bill is complex, too costly, increases delays, fails to meet the provinces' expectations and more.
Since her own allies condemn her bill—with support from Quebec—will the minister listen to reason, withdraw Bill C-7 and, if her department ever has money it does not know what to do with, it should give it to the provinces so they can apply the Young Offenders Act as Quebec has done for 30 years?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the short answer to his question is no. We have no intention of withdrawing Bill C-7 because in fact it commands the support of a great many Canadians who want to see new youth justice legislation and youth justice legislation premised upon important principles, such as prevention, accountability and rehabilitation.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.
The minister is right when he says that the NDP joined with the Liberals in 1993 in opposing the EH-101 helicopter contract. What we did not know was that seven years later we would still be talking about what helicopters the Canadian Armed Forces will be getting.
Is the minister not just a tad embarrassed that seven years after opposing that contract the Canadian Armed Forces is still waiting for the Liberals to make up their minds on what kind of helicopters it will get?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, we have said we are proceeding with this procurement process as our number one priority in terms of purchase.
We have already purchased new helicopters for search and rescue. Delivery will begin this year. We have purchased numerous other pieces of equipment: new LAV III and coyote vehicles for the army and new submarines for the navy. We have numerous amounts of new equipment.
We are working just as quickly as we can because we want to make sure that the Canadian forces have the tools and equipment they need to do their job and do it safely.
Presence In The GalleryOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in our gallery of His Excellency Mr. Rafic Al-Hariri, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon.
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Speaker, since the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry has once again denied the existence of a business link between the Grand-Mère golf club and the Auberge Grand-Mère, with the unanimous consent of the House I wish to table, at the specific request of the Deputy Prime Minister, the lease that existed between the Auberge Grand-Mère and the Grand-Mère golf club.
Points Of OrderOral Question Period
The Speaker
Does the hon. member for Verchères—Les-Patriotes have the unanimous consent of the House to table this document?
Government Response To PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Scarborough—Rouge River Ontario
Liberal
Derek Lee LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 10 petitions.
Federal Law-Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1Routine Proceedings
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario
Liberal
Don Boudria Liberalfor the Minister of Justice
moved that Bill S-4, a first act to harmonize federal law with the civil law of the province of Quebec and to amend certain acts in order to ensure that each language version takes into account the common law and the civil law, be read the first time.
(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
Roy H. Bailey Canadian Alliance Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
Mr. Speaker, the petition I wish to present has 25 pages of signatures from Canadian across Saskatchewan. I note there are some from Big Beaver and some from Big River, which take in the far south and the far north.
The petition contains the signatures of farmers and ranchers who are pleading with the government to come through with a poison that can be used to kill Richardson ground squirrels or gophers. These squirrels have cost farmers and ranchers millions of dollars.
The government has ignored previous petitions. Let us hope it will finally listen to the requests of these farmers and ranchers.
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present to the House a petition signed by many of my constituents and people from neighbouring constituencies who call upon parliament to enact an immediate moratorium on the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
The first petition is from the citizens in and around St. Albert and Edmonton who call upon Canada to ratify all the environmental protocol addenda to the international Antarctic treaty.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
The second petition, Mr. Speaker, is again from people in and around my riding who call on the government to urge the People's Republic of China to release all arrested Falun Gong and Falun Dafa practitioners and to lift the ban on Falun Gong people.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from citizens in the Peterborough area who would like to see VIA Rail service resume between Toronto and Peterborough. They point to the environmental advantages of this.
The petitioners say that VIA Rail would be a sustainable method of transportation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They also say that it would reduce the cost to society of accidents and delays on Ontario's highways. They say that such a service would strengthen the economy of Peterborough as a commuter centre, a tourist centre and an educational destination.
They call upon parliament to recommence VIA Rail service between Peterborough and Toronto.
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from citizens of the Peterborough area in support of research toward a bioartificial kidney, which they see as ultimately replacing kidney transplants and dialysis as a means of treating end stage kidney disease.
They call upon parliament to work toward and support bioartificial kidney research.
The last petition also relates to kidney research. The petitioners point out that kidney disease is an enormous and growing problem. 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 to be named the institute of kidney and urinary tract diseases.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, the petition I wish to present calls upon parliament to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act. The repeal, if it occurred, would enable rural mail couriers to organize and bargain collectively with the government.
Howard Hilstrom Canadian Alliance Selkirk—Interlake, MB
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Richard Frankowski was deported after living in Canada for more than 36 years. His friends and supporters feel that there has been an injustice.
They call upon the Government of Canada to live up to the universal declaration of human rights and the international pact of civil and political rights and allow Mr. Frankowski to return to Canada.