Debates of Feb. 14th, 2003

Social Insurance Numbers

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Employment Insurance Act requires that claimants prove their citizenship and identity to obtain a social insurance number.

The department only requires one document as proof, which goes against what the Auditor General has said, that two documents are required to meet the requirements of the act.

When is the minister going to give directives to officials to verify the citizenship and identity of social insurance number applicants diligently, before issuing the cards?

[Diane St-Jacques, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the department is making improvements to the registry and we have tightened up the requirements for proving identity.

As a result, since August 1, 2002, we accept baptismal certificates as identification for issuing a social insurance number and we only accept original documents as proof of identity for social insurance number applications.

Veterans Affairs

[Bob Wood, Liberal, Nipissing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the valentines for vets program has been ongoing now for seven years.

Would the Minister of Veterans Affairs indicate to the House what the response has been this year and what this program actually means to our veterans?

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Science]

Mr. Speaker, the valentines for vets program is one more special way of remembering our veterans. It speaks to the respect and admiration we have for them, for their gifts of freedom, equality and justice.

I thank the thousands of school children and other Canadians across the country for sending their valentines, and also the staff at veterans affairs for distributing them to veterans nationwide.

The response this year is some 3,500 received. One veteran said “It gave me a great feeling”. Indeed, this program means so much to our veterans.

Justice

[Maurice Vellacott, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, in 1999 Scott Carew shook his infant daughter to the point where she sustained extensive brain damage. She will never advance past the mental and physical age of a five month old.

What was his punishment for destroying his daughter's life? Only two years of house arrest and hours of community service.

Bill C-20 does not address this. Will the minister introduce legislation to guarantee that conditional sentencing will no longer be used in cases of such violent crimes?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, from the examples that are being presented, our heart has to go out to the victims in those cases.

However the overall reality is that we must look at the system in its entirety. We are doing that at the present time through the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. We will await its report and we will see if it recommends any changes to the existing legislation.

Agriculture

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian General Standards Board is currently having discussions about changing the designation “genetically modified organism”. The board would rather use the designation “genetic engineering product” or “product obtained through genetic engineering”.

Does the federal government want, through this change, to show its unwillingness to properly inform consumers by using such expressions and to keep them in the dark as to where GMOs come from by changing the wording of the designation?

[Claude Duplain, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, discussions are under way in various committees about the labelling of genetically modified products. Everyone is talking about it. It is under consideration. I will be happy to get back to the hon. member later, with better information than I can provide him with today.

Foreign Affairs

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.

In the Prime Minister's speech in Chicago last night, he said that going through the United Nations adds legitimacy to the use of force in Iraq. Does it also mean that not going through the United Nations, to use force in Iraq would make the endeavour illegitimate?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think we need to be careful here. It is important to recognize that the United Nations has already passed a very strong resolution with respect to the situation in Iraq which provides for serious consequences.

While we take the time to review Mr. Blix's report, it will be important to look at it in the context of the existing resolution 1441, as well as any future resolution.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice is aware of the Patrick Kelly case. A tremendous body of evidence has been presented to the minister, evidence that indicates Mr. Kelly was wrongfully convicted of first degree murder.

He has been incarcerated now for almost 20 years. The request to have the case referred to the Supreme Court of Canada was supported by Project Innocence of the Osgoode Law School and by the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

The minister has had the request for two years. When will the minister refer the case to the Supreme Court of Canada?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, in this particular instance we do have a very effective way of dealing with wrongful convictions but it does take time and a great deal of investigation to properly bring a case up to the point where a minister can make a decision.

The minister obviously is seized of the matter and I can make no further comment.

Points of Order

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

Mr. Speaker, I am rising to reserve my right to raise a question of privilege.

In question period yesterday, the acting Prime Minister said that the government had no discernable information that Canada was the focus of a potential terrorist attack aimed at politicians, among others, yet, for several hours before that answer, the office of his colleague, the Minister of Industry, was quarantined by an anthrax threat.

I want to investigate whether the acting Prime Minister knew that when he answered, which would raise a prima facie question of privilege in the House.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The Chair has taken note of the matter raised by the right hon. member for Calgary Centre.

Government Response to Petitions

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 13 petitions.

Employment Insurance Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-395, an act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (setting premium rate to control surplus in Employment Insurance Account).

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to introduce my private member's bill to amend the Employment Insurance Act to control surplus in the employment insurance account.

The amendments in this bill would require the commission to set a premium rate each year that would keep the surplus of the EI account between established upper and lower limits resulting from appropriate premium rate setting.

The facts are now well known. The accumulated surplus of the EI account increased to $40 billion as of March 31, 2002; $25 billion over the chief actuary of HRDC's recommendation of $15 billion to operate the program. The $4 billion EI surplus gained in 2001-02 constitutes nearly half the federal surplus of that year.

I understand through the media that the Minister of Finance is making some determination to change this in his budget. I truly hope this is the case and that my bill may be of assistance to him in that regard.

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

Petitions

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first is signed by 609 residents of the GTA who are concerned about the encroachment of development on city conservation. They ask Parliament to have the federal government enact legislation to develop federal green spaces within our cities.

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a variety of petitioners who are concerned that the Canada Post Corporation Act prohibits rural route mail couriers from having collective bargaining rights. They call upon Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on behalf of the people of Renfrew--Nipissing--Pembroke, particularly from Petawawa and Pembroke, asking that Parliament 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, especially in these days of uncertainty and threat.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present.

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to table two petitions today expressing concern that rural route mail couriers often earn less than minimum wages and cannot bargain collectively to improve their wages.

The petitioners therefore calls upon Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act. The two petitions contain 55 signatures of Canadians from Winnipeg, as well as from Ste. Anne, Richer and Steinbach in my riding of Provencher.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to table three petitions today calling upon Parliament to protect the rights of Canadians to be free to share their religious beliefs without fear of prosecution.

The petition calls specific attention to sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code, which a bill currently before the justice committee, Bill C-250, seeks to amend.

The three petitions contain a number of signatures of Canadians from British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today calling upon Parliament to protect the laws regarding the institution of marriage so that there can be no change in the Canadian legal definition of marriage.

The petition contains signatures from residents of Ontario, mainly from the city of Brampton.

[Darrel Stinson, Canadian Alliance, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap, I have a petition calling upon Parliament to affirm its support of Canada's continued resistance to U.S. pressure to join in a pre-emptive war on Iraq.

The petitioners insist that only the United Nations Security Council has the authority to decide whether Iraq is in compliance with Security Council resolution 1441.

[Maurice Vellacott, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, these 604 petitioners remind us that Canadians support ethical stem cell research, which has already shown encouraging potential to provide cures and therapies for diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.

They also remind us that non-embryonic stem cells, which are known as adult stem cells, have shown significant research progress, without the immune rejection and also the ethical problems associated with embryonic stem cells.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from several thousand people across Canada. The petitioners say that the courts have not applied the current child pornography law in a way which makes it clear that the 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.