Debates of June 4th, 2001

Gun Control

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I have only two things to say. First, in relation to Bill C-15, why does the opposition not stop playing politics and pass the amendments to the criminal code?

Second, I would ask the hon. member why he does not join the vast majority of Canadians and support our gun control regulations.

Free Trade Area Of The Americas

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over three months ago, the Minister for International Trade told this House that he hoped the basic texts used in the negotiations on the free trade area of the Americas would be made public.

Upon his return from Buenos Aires, close to two months ago, he announced triumphantly that he had obtained the authorization of the other ministers to release the texts. We are still waiting for the basic texts to be made public.

My question to the Minister for International Trade is simple: When will the texts be made public? The minister must realize that we want these texts before the deadline for negotiations.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Joliette for giving us another opportunity to stress the extraordinary contribution of Canadian diplomacy to promote transparency in the process on the free trade area of the Americas. Indeed, this was a major success for Canada.

We must now have the texts in the four languages. Canada has provided the French version of these documents. The Portuguese version should be ready. We should have the texts in the next few days, or relatively soon.

This is a major success for Canadian diplomacy and for transparency in international trade negotiations.

Justice

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, by splitting Bill C-15 and removing the very controversial animal cruelty and firearms provisions much good would flow. Children would be given greater protection from demented Internet stalkers. We could have some tough new provisions introduced through the criminal code.

Why has the justice minister dug in her heels and refused to allow quick passage of very positive criminal code amendments? Clearly Canadians know who is playing politics here. It is the very stubborn minister of justice.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is right. Canadians do know who is playing politics, and that is all the opposition parties over there.

We have made it absolutely plain that Bill C-15 deals with nothing more than amendments to the criminal code. Many of these amendments to the criminal code were in fact introduced before the last election.

There is no excuse for all those learned men and women on that side of the House not to work with us to move the bill forward quickly.

Government Response To Petitions

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 six petitions.

Parliament Of Canada Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-28, an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act, the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act and the Salaries Act.

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

Criminal Code

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-368, an act to amend the Criminal Code.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this enactment is to allow municipalities that wish to do so to license establishments of places of business where prostitutes may legally perform their trade.

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

Income Tax Act

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-369, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (donations to food banks).

Mr. Speaker, this enactment would permit a donation to food banks of food to be treated as a charitable gift, notwithstanding that the value of the food has already been deducted as a business expense of the donor.

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

Canadian Child Rights Act

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-370, an act respecting the rights of children.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this enactment is to recognize in law the basic rights of the child enumerated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that are not already covered by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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

Canadian Bill Of Rights

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-371, an act to amend the Canadian Bill of Rights (right to housing).

Mr. Speaker, this enactment would amend the Canadian Bill of Rights to include the right to proper housing at a reasonable cost and free of unreasonable barriers.

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

National Environmental Standards Act

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-372, an act to provide for the harmonization of environmental standards throughout Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this enactment is to establish a process of consultation with the provinces to establish uniformity in the environmental standards applied in Canada and in every province.

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

[Ken Epp, Canadian Alliance, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Since each member is very lucky to have one bill ever drawn, is there not some rule that prevents this member from having 400 private members' bills, all which will never see the light of day?

[The Speaker]

I do not know anything about the light of day or the light of the night, but I tell the hon. member that there is no limit on the number of bills that an hon. member can introduce in the House.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I wish to seek unanimous consent to propose the following motion:

That the bill entitled, an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act, the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act and the Salaries Act, shall be disposed of as follows:

1. The House shall proceed for the second reading stage of the said bill immediately after oral questions on Tuesday, June 5, and, during this stage, no member shall speak for more than 10 minutes, and that no later than 15 minutes prior to the conclusion of government orders on that day all questions necessary for the disposal of the second reading stage shall be put and any division necessary to dispose of the reading shall be taken forthwith;

2. That immediately after routine proceedings on Wednesday, June 6, the bill shall be referred to a committee of the whole House, provided that, (a) any member may table an amendment which, if in order, the Chair shall put at the appropriate time, (b) after no more than one hour of consideration by the said commitee on clause 1, the committee shall proceed to subsequent clauses, which shall be subject to debate and amendment, (c) any divisions requested in the committee shall be deferred until the end of the committee's consideration of the bill and (d) no later than 15 minutes prior to the ordinary time of adjournment, all necessary questions to dispose of the committee stage and the report stage of the bill shall be put and any division necessary be taken forthwith; and

3. That after oral questions on Thursday, June 7, the House shall immediately proceed to third reading stage of the said bill, during which no member shall speak for more than 10 minutes, and that no later than 15 minutes prior to the conclusion of government orders on that day all questions necessary for the disposal of the third reading stage shall be put and any division necessary to dispose of the reading shall be taken forthwith.

In other words, the vote shall be taken Thursday afternoon at the end of government orders.

[The Speaker]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

Business Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 56.1(1)(a), I move:

That the bill entitled, an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act, the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act and the Salaries Act, shall be disposed of as follows:

1. The House shall proceed to the second reading stage of the said bill immediately after oral questions on Tuesday, June 5, and, during this stage, no member shall speak for more than 10 minutes, and that no later than 15 minutes prior to the conclusion of government orders on that day all questions necessary for the disposal of the second reading stage shall be put and any division necessary to dispose of the reading shall be taken forthwith;

2. That immediately after routine proceedings on Wednesday, June 6, the bill shall be referred to a committee of the whole House, provided that, (a) any Member may table an amendment which, if in order, the Chair shall put at the appropriate time, (b) after no more than one hour of consideration by the said committee on clause 1, the committee shall proceed to subsequent clauses, which shall be subject to debate and amendment, (c) any divisions requested in the committee shall be deferred until the end of the committee's consideration of the bill and (d) no later than 15 minutes prior to the ordinary time of adjournment, all necessary questions to dispose of the committee stage and the report stage of the bill shall be put and any divisions necessary be taken forthwith; and

3. That after oral questions on Thursday, June 7, the House shall immediately proceed to third reading stage of the said bill, during which no member shall speak for more than 10 minutes, and that no later than 15 minutes prior to the conclusion of government orders on that day all questions necessary for the disposal of the third reading stage shall be put and any division necessary to dispose of the reading shall be taken forthwith.

[The Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Will those members who object to the motion please rise in their places?

And fewer than 25 members having risen:

[The Speaker]

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

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

The petition aims at improving the environment by reducing greenhouse emissions and accidents on the highways. It is hoped to strengthen Peterborough as a business, educational and tourism centre. It has support all along the route in federal ridings like Haliburton—Victoria—Brock, Durham, Whitby—Ajax, Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, Markham, Scarborough—Rouge River, Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington.

I am pleased to say that the petition has already resulted in a constructive meeting between the Minister of Transport and citizens of the Peterborough area.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from citizens in Peterborough who are concerned about the continuation of sanctions in Iraq. This is an issue of great interest in Peterborough. It has resulted in a weekly vigil at my office among people including people who are of Iraqi origin, now Canadians, and people who visited Iraq. They are concerned about the condition of poor people in Iraq, particularly the children.

The petitioners call upon parliament to accept the recommendation of the foreign affairs committee for the lifting of sanctions and the establishment of a diplomatic presence in Baghdad. They call for serious peace negotiations and they urge that Canada persuade the UN committee to quickly approve funds for the rebuilding of water, electric power and all production infrastructure. They ask that the compensation fund taken from the oil for food program be suspended.

[John M. Cummins, Canadian Alliance, Delta—South Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition from residents in my riding and elsewhere who draw to the attention of the House their displeasure with the government for disbanding the coast guard dive team which operated out of Richmond, British Columbia.

The removal of the dive team causes the public to be put at risk. The fact that the coast guard dive team was disbanded may have contributed to the death of Paul Sandhu. The petitioners believe that more lives could be lost if the dive team remains disbanded. They call on the government to reinstate the dive team.

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am presenting a petition signed by approximately 200 residents of my riding. They know that approximately 3,500 to 4,000 Canadians die each year by suicide and they are calling on parliament to pass legislation that would create a national suicide prevention strategy.