Debates of May 16th, 2001

Committees Of The House

[Some hon. members]

No.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, following consultations, I seek unanimous consent of the House that Mr. Harris and Ms. Gallant be substituted for Mr. Strahl and Mr. McNally as members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

[The Speaker]

Does the parliamentary secretary have unanimous consent to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and honoured to be able to present several petitions signed by hundreds of Canadians who are very concerned about the matter of health problems caused by drinking alcoholic beverages. In fact the petitioners acknowledge that fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol related birth defects are preventable by avoiding alcohol during pregnancy.

They call upon parliament to mandate the labelling of alcoholic products to warn pregnant women and other persons of certain dangers associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am honoured to present a petition on behalf of citizens in and around Grand Bend who call upon parliament to protect our health and environment by banning the questionable gas additive MMT.

[Gurbax Malhi, Liberal, Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour of presenting a petition to the House of Commons. The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that the CBC decided to take its service away from one million Canadians who have watched the CBC on C-Band satellite dishes for 20 years.

Therefore the petitioners call upon parliament to request the CBC to return its service to C-Band viewing Canadians.

[Brian Fitzpatrick, Canadian Alliance, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of introducing two petitions. In the first petition the petitioners are asking parliament to pass legislation that would prohibit the harvesting of aborted fetuses for research purposes.

[Brian Fitzpatrick, Canadian Alliance, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by approximately 10,000 Canadians. The petitioners ask parliament to take measures necessary to ensure that public citizen rights and their safety are paramount over the rights of known violent sex offenders, and that federal laws be directed to give priority to enforcing and tightening parole conditions so that each sentence of sexual assault is served consecutively to better protect the public.

[Betty Hinton, Canadian Alliance, Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition containing the signatures of well over 5,000 people in my constituency of Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys. The petitioners want changes made to the justice system that would put a stop to the early release of pedophiles from prison.

They call on parliament for tougher sentencing to be brought about for pedophiles and others who commit violent crimes against children. They also want to see pedophiles deemed as dangerous offenders and changes made in the parole system to better guard against repeat offenders.

The petitioners hope the federal government will take seriously the dangers posed to children when pedophiles are released back into society before they have fully paid their debt.

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition signed by many people throughout Saskatchewan who are concerned about changes to the Employment Insurance Act. This petition notes that the federal government has taken about $30 billion out of the EI fund.

The petitioners call upon the government to re-establish employment insurance as an earnings replacement program that once again supports unemployed workers, their families and their communities.

[Rob Anders, Canadian Alliance, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to present a petition consisting of 3,226 signatures from people who are concerned about the incursions on their freedom with regard to health care choice.

The petitioners are opposed to the government's abuse of natural health products, the regulation of those products and their ability to augment the nutritional quality of their diet with vitamins, minerals, herbs and amino acids.

They simply want to prevent disease with the nutrients available to them without government regulation interference. There are 3,226 people opposed to the bill.

Questions On The Order Paper

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 13 will be answered today. .[Text]

Question No. 13—

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

For each of the last five years, 1996-2000: ( a ) on how many occasions were Canadian diplomats overseas alleged to have violated national or local laws in the host country; ( b ) in each instance, in which country did the alleged violation occur: ( c ) what was the alleged infraction; and ( d ) what was the response of the host country?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is aware of five incidents in the last five years in which Canadian diplomats overseas are alleged to have violated national or local laws in their host country. Not included are tickets for traffic offences, which departmental policy requires diplomats to pay themselves. Provisions of the Privacy Act prevent the department from releasing personal information; for this reason, the identity of individuals must be protected.

Three of the five incidents involved minor dependants of diplomats.

The first incident involved an alleged misdemeanour of arson by a minor dependant. A waiver of immunity was requested but not granted in this case. Given the very minor nature of the offence, the government of the host country took no further action.

The second incident involved an allegation of driving while impaired by a minor dependant. The department was advised by the host country that a refusal to waive immunity would result in loss of the dependant's driver's licence. The family returned to Canada shortly after the incident.

The third incident involved a Canadian consular officer alleged to have uttered a death threat. No charges were laid against this individual in the host country. However, a foreign court ordered the individual to stay away from a certain area. Since consular officers have more limited immunity than diplomats, the individuals was subject to the jurisdiction of the court. The individual was recalled to Canada by the department.

The fourth case, involving a diplomat formely posted to Israel, is generally considered public knowledge. This individual was not charged in the host country and thus no issue of immunity arose. The incident led to the laying of criminal charges in Canada last year for trafficking in narcotics.

The fifth case involves a recent allegation of an indecent act in a park by a minor dependant. The department waived immunity in this case and the matter is before the courts.

1. The word “diplomat” is used in a generic sense to cover all persons enjoying consular and diplomatic immunities and privileges.

Questions Passed As Orders For Returns

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 12 and 37 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed. .[Text]

Question No. 12—

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

For each of the last five years, 1996-2000, ( a ) how many foreign diplomats were alleged to have violated Canadian, provincial, and local laws, ( b ) in each instance, what law was alleged violated, ( c ) what was the nationality of the alleged offender, and ( d ) what was the response of the Government of Canada?

Return tabled.

Question No. 37—

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

With regard to performance pay for public servants in the Executive (EX) category and the Deputy Minister (DM) category in fiscal years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 for each department, agency or Crown corporation: ( a ) how many employees received performance pay, broken down by EX level (e.g. EX-1, EX-2, etc.); ( b ) how many employees are there in each EX level; ( c ) how many employees received performance pay, broken down by DM level (e.g. DM-1, DM-2, etc.); ( d ) how many employees are there at each DM level; and ( e ) what was the total amount paid out in performance pay?

Return tabled.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

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

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions For Papers

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary 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.