Debates of Jan. 31st, 2003

Points of Order

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we did take the time to verify that ad. In the announcement of coming events, when that number is called the deputy minister of finance answers the phone, says “thank you for your interest” and refers the call on to the minister's old law firm.

Whether it is a reprint or whatever their excuses will be, that is the situation. His ministerial office is quarterbacking the calls on that announcement.

[Philip Mayfield, Canadian Alliance, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the number is 952-4900 and that is not the Hill Times number. That is the Deputy Prime Minister's office number. I inadvertently gave the wrong number. I would like that corrected. The number I intended to read was 952-4900 which is the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

I consider it entirely appropriate when I read in the paper a fundraiser for John Manley, a fundraising event held--

[The Deputy Speaker]

Order, please. Let us not complicate things. Let me remind members that it is never acceptable to name anyone by name indirectly or otherwise. You cannot do indirectly what you cannot do directly, in other words, by means of a quote, use of the name of a member of Parliament, minister or otherwise.

If the member has anything else to add to the same point of order, because others want to speak to it, but I think I have heard just about all I need to hear.

[Philip Mayfield, Canadian Alliance, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with you. I apologize. I did intend to use the minister's title. It was only in error that I referred to his name, and I withdraw that.

However the point I am concerned about, Mr. Speaker, is that you stopped my question relating to legislation when it had nothing to do with the legislation but what appears to be an indiscretion of the Deputy Prime Minister by making an announcement inviting the public to call his office with the number listed on his own Deputy Prime Minister website.

[The Deputy Speaker]

With the greatest of respect to members on either side who participated so far in this under the title of a point of order, so far all I have heard is a difference of opinion.

Let me conclude by saying to the hon. member for Cariboo—Chilcotin that if anyone is cut off, either in the process of asking a question or in the process of giving an answer, I think all of us are very much aware of the time constrictions for questions and for answers. It was only under those conditions that I rose in any situation today, either for a question or an answer.

I have heard all that is required on this matter. Respectfully to the minister, it is not a point of order. It appears to be a difference of opinion and we are truly engaging in debate, so I consider this matter closed.

On a new point of order, the right hon. member for Calgary Centre.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I simply want to reserve my right to review an exchange in the House today between the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and the hon. member for Lotbinière—L'Érable.

The issue in question has to do with the admission by the parliamentary secretary that a document published by Agriculture Canada states one thing in French, one of our official languages, and a different thing in English, one of our official languages.

The question of respect for the Official Languages Act is fundamental to the House of Commons. The fact that the parliamentary secretary would know that there was a diversion, would use that actually as a defence, would defend that diversion in the House of Commons, may well give rise to a question of order. I simply want to reserve the right to look at the record and--

[The Deputy Speaker]

With the greatest of respect to the right hon. member, I do not see the substance in his point of order.

I understand and I, as we all do, hold in the same high regard the defence of the matter of official languages. We all know, from practical experience, that from time to time there is a difference in text and corrections have to be made. I know I had to make such a correction on a matter before the House yesterday.

Tabling of documents.

Government Response to Petitions

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 39 petitions.

Committees of the House

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership and the associate membership of the committees of the House and I should like to move concurrence at this time.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Garry Breitkreuz, Canadian Alliance, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of petitions that I would like to present today.

The first petition deals with the creation and use of child pornography which is condemned by a clear majority of Canadians. The petition has been signed by residents of my riding.

The petitioners feel that the courts have not applied the current child pornography law in such a way that makes it clear that such exploitation of children will always be met with swift punishment.

The petitioners 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.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a number of petitions from Victoria and Vancouver Centre with regard to child pornography.

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

[Garry Breitkreuz, Canadian Alliance, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is signed by many people from in and around Ontario. The petitioners support ethical stem cell research, which has shown encouraging potential, and that non-embryonic stem cells, which are known as adult stem cells, show significant research progress.

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

[Dave Chatters, Canadian Alliance, Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to table a petition today adding more names to the hundreds of thousands of names already tabled in the House urging the government to take steps to outlaw the possession or production of pornographic material involving children, to which we have all received totally inadequate answers from the government.

[John Maloney, Liberal, Erie—Lincoln, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition from constituents of the riding of Erie--Lincoln who wish to draw to the attention of the House that Revenue Canada has reduced the amount deductible on U.S. social security payments thereby increasing the amount taxable for them, which causing extreme hardship for many senior citizens.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to return to the former deductions as established prior to this change in December 1997.

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Cobden and Pembroke, Ontario, I am presenting a petition requesting Parliament to recognize that the Canadian Emergency Preparedness College is essential to training Canadians for emergency situations; that the facility should stay in Arnprior; and that the government should upgrade the facilities in order to provide the necessary training to Canadians.

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today and present a number of petitions signed by constituents in my riding regarding stem cell research.

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today and present a number of petitions signed by constituents in my riding regarding child pornography.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition from residents of the Halifax--Dartmouth area, including residents from my riding of Halifax West. These residents are concerned about what happens to automobiles that are at the end of their life and the need for waste prevention and recycling.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation that requires that all automobiles sold in Canada to be completely disassembled and recycled in Canada. This legislation would include automobiles derived from domestic or offshore manufacturers.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to once again rise in the House to present petitions from my constituents of Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys.

The first petition asks Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, which has been signed by many hundreds of people, asks that Parliament ensure the protection of our children by taking all the necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify child pornography and the exploitation of children be met with swift punishment.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from about 300 people in the St. John's area in my riding.

The petitioners make the point that it is the duty of Parliament, through the enactment and enforcement of the Criminal Code, to protect the most vulnerable members of society from sexual abuse.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to take all necessary measures to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a very serious criminal offence and that federal police forces be directed to give priority to enforcing the law for the protection of children.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 72 and 91.

Question No. 72

[Inky Mark, Canadian Alliance, Dauphin—Swan River, MB]

With respect to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration: (a ) what provisions have been put in place in regards to the theft of documents from Canadian Immigration offices; and (b ) how are the documents that have been stolen from Canadian Immigration offices accounted for?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Insofar as Citizenship and Immigration is concerned, the information requested is as follows:

a) Physical security safeguards and measures as set out in the government security policy are applied based on the threat and risk assessment particular to each location within Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Each location must assess the specific threat and risks to establish the level of vulnerability and necessary additional safeguards to mitigate the risk. Threat and risk assessment form part of the risk management process and are completed on a one time requirement and reviewed on a regular basis or when circumstances are such that there is an increase threat.

b) Forms management is a key administrative function for CIC. There is an established reporting regime in place at both a local and national level to account for all controlled documents in CIC's inventory. In the event a document is stolen from a Canadian Immigration office, that document is accounted for through regular inventory reporting by the forms control officer of the office from which the document went missing. Should a forms control officer discover and confirm that a control document is missing, that officer immediately makes a record of all pertinent details. That record is then transmitted to the various branches, such as National Headquarters Corporate Security and Intelligence, equipped to deal with such an event. National Headquarters Intelligence then advises the immigration control officer network overseas, the ports of entry, and partners to look out for the document. Corporate Security undertakes the investigation in tandem with local officials in the region involved.

Question No. 91

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

With respect to “smart regulations” cited in Throne Speech 2002, specifically regulations associated with environmental assessment processes: ( a ) what action is the government taking to ratify the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty; ( b ) what departments are involved; ( c ) what government officials are involved; and ( d ) what is the time frame allotted for Canada's ratification?