House of Commons Hansard #47 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was agency.

Topics

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Halifax West Nova Scotia

Liberal

Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the 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 several petitions.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-344, an act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (prevention of private hospitals).

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present to the House a bill calling for the prevention of private hospitals. I place the bill before the House of Commons in response to the growing concern among Canadians about privatization of our health care system. It addresses the threats to universal public health care posed by private hospitals and public-private partnershipsin health care delivery which are springing up across the country.

It is a concrete proposition for implementation of the overriding recommendation of the Romanow commission report for a public not for profit health care system.

It amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to provide that provinces be financially penalized if they allow public funds to be used for the provision of insured services in private for profit hospitals.

Finally, the bill ensures the principles of medicare and the spirit of the Canada Health Act are absolutely and unequivocally reflected in the letter of the law.

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

Canadian Human Rights ActRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

Deborah Grey Canadian Alliance Edmonton North, AB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-345, an act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to reintroduce this private member's bill. It is very important. The bill would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to protect the rights of individuals who require assistance dogs for daily living and the rights of the individuals who train these dogs.

This enactment would specify that it is a discriminatory practice to prohibit access of an individual with an assistance dog to goods, services, facilities or accommodation normally acceptable and accessible to the general public. The bill would assure that assistance dogs, other than seeing eye dogs, are recognized under federal law including seizure response and seizure alert dogs.

The owners and trainers of assistance dogs should be given the same rights of access under federal law as those individuals who require seeing eye dogs. As the House know, that has been in place for a very long time.

These exceptional assistance animals are a necessity in the daily lives of many Canadians. They can be trained to pull wheel chairs, carry and pick up things for persons with mobility impairments, alert deaf individuals to sounds, and even dial the telephone in an emergency. I have seen one of these dogs in action. It is high time that we enacted the laws that they would be given the same rights as others.

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

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Halifax West Nova Scotia

Liberal

Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I have two travel motions. There have been consultations among the parties and I think if you seek it you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, in relation to its studies on settlement programs, on provincial nominee agreements, on a national identity card, and on Bill C-18, an act respecting Canadian citizenship, a group comprised of 2 government members and one member of each of the opposition parties of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration be authorized to travel to St. John's, Newfoundland; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Fredericton, New Brunswick; Quebec, Quebec; and any other city deemed necessary, in January and February 2003, and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Halifax West Nova Scotia

Liberal

Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker,again there have been consultations among the parties and I believe if you seek it you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, in relation to its studies on settlement programs, on provincial nominee agreements, on a national identity card, and on Bill C-18, an act respecting Canadian Citizenship, a group comprised of 2 government members and one member of each of the opposition parties of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration be authorized to travel to Victoria, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Toronto, Ontario; and any other city deemed necessary, in January and February 2003, and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Carolyn Parrish Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to seek the unanimous consent of the House to return to reports from interparliamentary delegations.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

The Speaker

Is there unanimous consent to revert?

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Some hon. members

No.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadians concerned about the working conditions of rural route mail couriers. They point out that these couriers are not allowed to bargain collectively and that section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act prohibits them from having collective bargaining rights.

They call upon Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canadian Post Corporation Act.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens of Victoria, British Columbia, who point out that hundreds of thousands of Canadians suffer from illnesses and diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injury. They point that ethical stem cell research has proven to be effective in addressing some of the problems faced by those Canadians.

They 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 suffered by such Canadians.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Ovid Jackson Liberal Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound I have the honour to present two petitions pursuant to Standing Order 36.

The first petition deals with sexual orientation, section 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code. My constituents ask that they be allowed to practise their religious freedom and not be prosecuted because of it.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

Ovid Jackson Liberal Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON

Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with stem cell research.

The petitioners are asking that the government, through ethical practices, use adult stem cells to make sure that those Canadians who are suffering from various illnesses can be looked after and that cures could be found for these diseases.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Gouk Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions on four different subjects.

First, the petitioners draw to the attention of the House that the addition of sexual orientation as an explicitly protected category against hate propaganda would lead to individuals being unable to exercise religious freedom.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect the rights of Canadians to be free to share religious beliefs without fear of prosecution.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Gouk Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan, BC

Mr. Speaker, in the second set of petitions the petitioners point out to Parliament that the majority of Canadians support the current legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of a single, that is unmarried, male and a single unmarried female.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including invoking section 33 of the charter, if necessary, to protect and preserve the current definition of marriage.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Gouk Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan, BC

Mr. Speaker, in the third petition the petitioners point out to Parliament that hundreds of thousands of Canadians are suffering from debilitating diseases, that Canadians support ethical stem cell research and that non-embryonic stem cells have shown significant progress without immune rejection or ethical problems.

The petitioners call on Parliament for legislative support on adult stem cell research.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Gouk Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan, BC

Mr. Speaker, in the final petition the petitioners point out that incidents of drug use is becoming more frequent, that each incident leads to public harm and that the use of marijuana leads to the use of harder drugs. Therefore they call upon Parliament to stop any legislation that would legalize the use of marijuana.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Sarkis Assadourian Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present. The first one is from Canada Post rural mail couriers who claim that they earn less than the minimum wage of ordinary workers and that they are not allowed to bargain collectively.

They ask Parliament therefore to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Sarkis Assadourian Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition the petitioners call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia involving children are outlawed.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Sarkis Assadourian Liberal Brampton Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, in the third petition Canadians across the country ask the House to consider opening an embassy in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, as Canada is the only G-7 country that does not have an office in the Yerevan. They feel that this office will work toward establishing better bilateral relations between Canada and Armenia. They ask the House to ask the government to open an embassy in the Yerevan.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

Norman E. Doyle Progressive Conservative St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from approximately 100 people in the St. John's area who make the point that non-embryonic stem cells, known as adult stem cells, have shown significant research progress and do not have the rejection or ethical problems associated with embryonic stem cells.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to focus our support on adult stem cell research to find cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of suffering Canadians.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I too am pleased to present a petition signed by a number of Canadians, including from my own riding of Mississauga South, on the issue of stem cell research. I present this petition on behalf of these Canadians who believe, as I do, that life begins at conception.

The petitioners would like to point out that Canadians support ethical stem cell research, which has already shown an encouraging potential to provide cures and therapies for illnesses and diseases. They also point out that non-embryonic stem cells, which are also known as adult stem cells, have shown significant research progress without the immune rejection or ethical problems associated with embryonic stem cells.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to support legislative matters which pursue adult stem cell research to find the therapies and cures necessary for Canadians.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Halifax West Nova Scotia

Liberal

Geoff Regan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 58, 83 and 86.

Question No. 58Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

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

Has the CBC or any of its agents used public funds to secure broadcast rights or other access to Paul Burrell; and if so, how much was paid and were these funds taken from news budgets or entertainment budgets?

Question No. 58Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Hamilton East Ontario

Liberal

Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: The CBC cannot divulge information which might undermine the corporation’s autonomy, its competitive position, or its ability to preserve confidentiality. This question seeks commercial information regarding the corporation’s internal budgets and the cost of acquiring program rights, the revelation of which would harm both its autonomy and competitive position.