House of Commons Hansard #131 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was copyright.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Bras D'Or—Cape Breton Nova Scotia
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 14 petitions.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the twentieth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 6 of the April 2003 report of the Auditor General of Canada entitled “Federal Government Support to First Nations—Housing on Reserves”.
I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the twenty-first report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 6 of the May 2003 report of the Auditor General of Canada, entitled “Reform of Classification and Job Evaluation in the Federal Public Service”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to these two reports.
Jacques Saada Liberal Brossard—La Prairie, QC
Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move:
That the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be modified as follows: Judi Longfield for Guy St-Julien.
Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, today I have three separate petitions from my constituents of Red Deer.
The first petition contains the names of 44 petitioners who 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.
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by 221 constituents. The petitioners request that Parliament take all measures necessary to protect the rights of Canadians to freely share their religion and moral beliefs without fear of prosecution.
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, my last petition is signed by 108 petitioners who are against Bill C-13, assisted human reproduction.
Jacques Saada Liberal Brossard—La Prairie, QC
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I have the honour of presenting a petition regarding an amendment to the Income Tax Act with respect to volunteers who provide emergency services.
Jay Hill Canadian Alliance Prince George—Peace River, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition today signed by some 536 of my constituents of Prince George—Peace River, mainly from the cities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, but also from the rural communities of Cecil Lake, Charlie Lake, Tomslake, Clayhurst, Goodlow, Montney, North Pine, Pouce Coupe, Taylor and Tumbler Ridge.
The petitioners wish to draw to the attention of the House that in their opinion marriage is the best foundation for families and the raising of children. They note that the House passed a motion in June 1999 that called for marriage to continue to be recognized as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of presenting two petitions on behalf of a great number of my constituents.
The first petition deals with the issue of invasive species. The petitioners believe that invasive species have become a significant threat to the productivity and the function and biological integrity of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin and the inland lakes and rivers of Ontario.
As a signatory to the United Nations convention on biological diversity in 1992, the Canadian government made a commitment to prevent, control or eradicate alien invasive species.
The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to acknowledge and honour repeated national and international commitments by the Government of Canada to take action against the threat posed by alien invasive species.
Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition has to do with the matter of rural route mail couriers. The petition may be redundant because the very action requested today has already been taken. The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
I simply present the petition as has been given to me.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present four petitions today.
The first petition is signed by many of my constituents. The petitioners are requesting that the government have a full public inquiry into many of these government contracts that have gone off the rails, which is certainly a good initiative.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, in my second petition, the petitioners call upon the government to introduce in Bill C-13 that non-embryonic stem cells be used. Adult stem cells have shown significant research progress in dealing with some of those diseases.
This is an excellent petition.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, we are getting back into hockey season, so in the third petition, petitioners from Saskatchewan request that the revenue minister get off her back and not tax young hockey players as she did last year. That stopped as she reached the Manitoba boarder. She simply picked on Saskatchewan. We do not think that is a fair use of the revenue situation.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, last but certainly not least, many petitioners in my riding are calling for the government to get tough on child pornography. The government gets close, but it never quite implements legislation that will require child pornographers to really pay some stiff harsh penalties.
Jason Kenney Canadian Alliance Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table petitions bearing the signatures of some 400 of my constituents who call upon Parliament to reaffirm the heterosexual nature of marriage and invoke the section 33 notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to maintain the heterosexual definition of marriage against misinterpretation by the judiciary.
Those who signed the petition did so in taking part at a event in front of my constituency office some three weeks ago.
Gurmant Grewal Canadian Alliance Surrey Central, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the constituents of Surrey Central to present five petitions signed by hundreds of petitioners who call upon Parliament to immediately hold a renewed debate on the definition of marriage and to reaffirm, as it did in 1999 in response to a Canadian Alliance motion, its commitment to take all necessary steps to preserve the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
The hundreds of petitioners signed the petitions while attending various town hall meetings I held during the summer break.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of presenting a petition asking Parliament to oppose any plans to restrict access to income tax credits for persons with disabilities, and to ensure that the government refrain from having the House of Commons pass any measures at all without consulting the organizations of disabled persons and health professionals. This petition is signed by constituents in my riding.
Rose-Marie Ur Liberal Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition on behalf of the constituents of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex who call upon Parliament to protect the health of seniors and children and to save our environment by banning the disputed gas additive MMT as it creates smog and, hence, global warming.
Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.