Debates of Nov. 20th, 2002

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

moved for leave to introduce C-308, An Act to amend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.

Mr. Speaker, the dramatic situation that exists right now in the Middle East prompts me to introduce a bill entitled An Act to amend the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.

Through this bill, I am asking Canada to act in a way that is consistent with its policy of not recognizing the military occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel since 1967.

The urgency of the situation calls for immediate action. This bill would ensure that goods originating from settlements under Israeli administration would be subject to the full rate of customs duties rather than duties at the preferential tariff treatment accorded by the agreement.

Canada would thus send a clear message to the international community. A year ago, the European Union adopted a similar trade measure and the European parliament went even further by asking the European Union to suspend its association agreement with Israel.

I would like to point out to the House that I wrote a letter to the Minister for International Trade on this subject last spring and I have yet to receive an answer from him.

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

Official Languages Act

[Jim Pankiw, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-309, an act to amend the Official Languages Act (provision of bilingual services).

Mr. Speaker, in the statement in the preamble of the document, the policy of official bilingualism is a source of national division rather than national unity, and it was created without the support of a majority of Canadians.

It is estimated the annual cost of official bilingualism for the public and private sectors is $5 billion. The international language of business is English which constitutes a greater incentive for francophones to learn English as a second language than for anglophones to learn French as a second language.

While pursuing a policy of official bilingualism in the rest of Canada, the Government of Canada has tolerated the declaration of the National Assembly of Quebec that the only official language of Quebec is French which has undermined the rights of Quebec's anglophones. It is a matter of public concern that the Official Languages Act has resulted in discrimination against unilingual anglophones seeking employment with and advancement within the federal government.

Accordingly, the purpose of this enactment is to redefine the criteria set out in the Official Languages Act by which the language rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will be provided so as to avoid unnecessary expense. It sets out a standard of 25% of the population speaking an official language as a significant demand that warrants service in the official language.

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

Fishers' Bill of Rights

[Greg Thompson, Progressive Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-310, an act to establish the rights of fishers including the right to be involved in the process of fisheries stock assessment, fish conservation, setting of fishing quotas, fishing licensing and the public right to fish and establish the right of fishers to be informed of decisions affecting fishing as a livelihood in advance and the right to compensation if other rights are abrogated unfairly.

Mr. Speaker, in a sense that preamble almost pre-empted me. However I want to remind the House that I introduced this bill in the last Parliament. It became a votable bill. I have to give credit to my colleagues on this side of the House. All opposition parties supported the bill. I was very disappointed that the government did not support it but I had a lot of interest from certain government members who wished they could have supported it.

Given the new dynamics on that side of the House and the split within their own caucus, I would expect that they now would come forward and support this. The trick will be to get the bill votable so we can have that debate on the floor of the House of Commons again.

There is no question that we have to protect our fishermen so this is aptly called the fishermens' bill of rights, and more politically correct in upper Canada the fishers' bill of rights.

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

Health Information Privacy Act

[Greg Thompson, Progressive Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-311, an act to protect the privacy of patients and the confidentiality of their health information.

Mr. Speaker, following the tabling of the Kirby report and on the eve of the Romanow report I thought it would be appropriate to bring a bill like this forward. Information in people's records in terms of their visits to the hospital, their doctor and health records are generally important documents and must be kept private.

We have had examples in Canada where that information has been leaked to corporations and sometimes insurance companies. This has had a huge impact on particular individuals. These corporations and companies do not have the right to have access to that information. Sometimes this type of information has landed in the wrong hands and has been misused against patients.

This bill lays out the rights of individual patients in terms of the privacy of information contained in the health care sector.

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

Petitions

[Roy H. Bailey, Canadian Alliance, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present to the House today. The first petition asks Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps against pedophilia. There are more of these petitions to come.

[Roy H. Bailey, Canadian Alliance, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I wish to present deals with stem cell research. The petitioners call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of suffering Canadians.

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I stood when you called motions, but other people also stood. I wonder if we could revert to motions after petitions.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the House give its consent to the hon. member for St. John's West to revert back to motions now?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Hansard

Appendix to

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the House for its courtesy.

There have been consultations among parties in the House and I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move, seconded by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons:

That the speeches delivered at the unveiling of the official portrait of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney be printed as an Appendix to Hansard.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Does the hon. member for St. John's West have unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by citizens of the city and county of Peterborough, and surrounding areas. These citizens are concerned about the potential for war with Iraq.

The petitioners mourn the deaths and tragedies which occurred in New York, but they point out that a pre-emptive strike to overthrow the government of Iraq would be a flagrant breach of international law. They say that such an attack would undoubtedly result in the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians, including children. They also point out that such an attack would leave a legacy of hatred against the west.

The petitioners call upon the Parliament of Canada to refuse to cooperate in any way in a war against Iraq and to use Canada's diplomatic efforts to convince the United States, Britain and the United Nations to choose the tools of diplomacy, not the weapons of war, for establishing peace in the Middle East. The petitioners also call for the lifting of sanctions against Iraq.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition from citizens of the Peterborough area that deals with child pornography.

The petitioners point out that the creation and use of child pornography is condemned by the clear majority of Canadians and that the courts have not applied the current child pornography law in a way which makes it clear that such exploitation of children will always be met by swift punishment.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote and glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. I will try to be brief because both of the petitions that I am presenting have been presented by other members of Parliament today. There is obviously a campaign going on and that is only appropriate. It is nice to know that Canadians can get organized to put their points of view forward.

The first petition has to do with child pornography. It calls upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia for sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the issue of stem cell research. The conclusion of this petition calls upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of suffering Canadians.

[Peter Goldring, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Centre-East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I too have a petition here signed by many people from all across Canada who have great concerns about the exploitation of our children in child pornography. They call upon Parliament and our government to take steps to stop the foot dragging, to do something that will affect and protect our children against pedophilia, and against sado-masochistic activities with children. Those activities must be outlawed now.

[Tom Wappel, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions on two subject matters. Like others, I have a petition from approximately 120 people in the Chatham area of Ontario. They call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials that promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

[Tom Wappel, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the other two petitions I have are concerned with the protection of human life. The petitioners point out that modern science has unequivocally and irrefutably established that a human being begins to exist at the moment of conception. They call upon Parliament to bring in legislation defining a human fetus or embryo from the moment of conception, whether in the womb of the mother or not and whether conceived naturally or otherwise, as a human being, and making any and all consequential amendments to all Canadian laws as required.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today. The first petition has to do with the Coast Guard. It is signed by British Columbians from Port McNeill, Woss, Delta and other communities on the Lower Mainland.

The petitioners note that the Coast Guard is suffering from a lack of resources. The lack of resources was evident last summer when the Coast Guard was unable to attempt a rescue of citizens trapped in an overturned vessel. They note that there is a failure to provide money by the government for an additional hovercraft to provide protection at Vancouver airport.

They call upon Parliament to demand of government that it adequately fund the Coast Guard and that it separate the Coast Guard from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do as well with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The petitioners are noting that the federal minister of fisheries has a constitutional obligation to protect wild fish in their habitat and they are calling on him to do just that. They call on him to protect wild fish in their habitat from the effects of salmon farming.

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

Mr. Speaker, the last petition is concerning child pornography. The citizens signing this petition note that the courts are not seeming to make it clear that the exploitation of children should be met with swift punishment. They call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities are outlawed.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have before me today a petition with 2,895 names from the greater Saint John area concerning child pornography.

Each and everyone of us knows that Canadians all across the nation are very worried about what has happened just recently in British Columbia with regard to child pornography and artistic merit. The courts have not applied the current child pornography law in a way which makes it clear that such exploitation of children will always be met with swift punishment.

Therefore the petitioners here, the 2,895 signatures, call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed. I pray that the House will deal with this immediately.