House of Commons Hansard #116 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was religious.

Topics

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Darrel Stinson Canadian Alliance Okanagan—Shuswap, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of my constituents from Coldstream, Vernon and Armstrong.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to support, preserve and protect the legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others and if necessary, to invoke section 33 of the charter, the notwithstanding clause.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting three petitions under Standing Order 36.

The first one is with regard to the firearms matter. The petitioners have a long statistical preamble in terms of what they believe is wrong with the act and what we currently have. They are calling upon Parliament to abolish the national firearms registry for long guns and redirect our tax dollars to programs in support of health care and law enforcement.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON

Mr. Speaker, my second petition has to do with pornography. The petitioners are calling 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.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON

The third petition, Mr. Speaker, has to do with agriculture. Given the current state of agriculture, it is very appropriate that these people would put forward this petition.

The petitioners request that Parliament direct the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in cabinet to use some of the APF promotion budget to inform Canadians that investment in adequate safety nets is a food security issue.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Duncan Canadian Alliance Vancouver Island North, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by 26 individuals from my riding.

The petitioners are asking Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures to preserve and protect the Criminal Code by opposing the proposed amendments on the basis of freedom of speech and freedom of religion concerning hate propaganda contained in Bill C-250.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Dave Chatters Canadian Alliance Athabasca, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today from constituents of the community of Athabasca. They ask the House to reaffirm the decision on the definition of marriage in the motion that was passed in the House in June 1999 defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The petitioners ask the House to reaffirm that definition.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Alex Shepherd Liberal Durham, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today on behalf of rural route mail couriers in my riding. They are very concerned about their right to collective bargaining. They call upon Parliament to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour and privilege to table a number of petitions. The first one is signed by a number of people from Winnipeg who are concerned about war and international conflict following the situation in Iraq.

The petitioners call upon Canada and Parliament to pursue alternatives to war, including negotiations for mutual disarmament of all nations, respect for the basic principles of international law and respect for national self-determination, as well as support for International Criminal Court proceedings for crimes against peace.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, pertains to constituents' concerns about the lack of funding from the federal Liberals for health care.

The petitioners believe that the federal Liberals have opened the door to two tier, American style health care. They call upon Parliament to increase the federal government's share of health care funding to 25% immediately and to implement the national home care and national pharmacare programs.

Mr. Speaker, the third petition, and I have several copies of this one, is from people concerned about the lack of action by the government with respect to Roy Romanow's commission on the future of health care.

The petitioners believe that the commission's report provides a blueprint for the future of health care. They call upon Parliament to encourage the government to adopt the recommendations of the commission's report as the best prescription for Canada's ailing health care system.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have a very important petition which comes from Winnipeggers and others who are concerned about the presence of fetal alcohol syndrome in our society today.

The petitioners call upon the government to recognize and tell Canadians that when pregnant women drink, there is the danger of fetal alcohol syndrome. They believe that affixing warning labels to alcohol beverage containers is an important solution to this problem. They call upon Parliament to enact the motion that has already been approved by the House that would prohibit the sale of alcohol beverages in Canada unless the container in which the beverage is sold carries a visible and clearly printed label stating “Warning: drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause birth defects”.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Rob Anders Canadian Alliance Calgary West, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present 708 signatures of people in my riding who feel the gun registry has cost $1 billion, is not supported by the provinces and has not reduced gun crimes. These 708 people have signed their names asking for the government to repeal the gun registry.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Abbott Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.

The first petition contains 230 signatures. 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.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Abbott Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, and I know my constituent, Mr. Peter Wood, worked very hard on this, contains 244 signatures and deals with the Iraq war.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation to ensure that Canada and its armed forces take no part in the proposed war against Iraq.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jim Abbott Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is signed by 30 petitioners. The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect the right of Canadians to be free to share their religious beliefs without fear of prosecution. This has to do specifically with Bill C-250.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Lynne Yelich Canadian Alliance Blackstrap, SK

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 27 residents of Blackstrap, in the great province of Saskatchewan. The petitioners call upon this House to direct Parks Canada to implement a pest control program for spruce budworm, which includes the spraying of the townsite of Waskasoo with BtK, as soon as practical, and to provide Parks Canada with adequate resources for this program.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.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. 217 and 228.

Question No. 217Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Joe Clark Progressive Conservative Calgary Centre, AB

Between April 11 and April 24, 2003: ( a ) to which provincial premiers did the prime minister speak by telephone on the issue of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak; ( b ) who initiated each call, and what was its duration?

Question No. 217Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Bras D'Or—Cape Breton Nova Scotia

Liberal

Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Because of the complex nature of federal-provincial relationships and the importance of these relationships to the management of the federation, discussions between premiers and the Prime Minister are confidential. Therefore, specific details of telephone conversations cannot be released.

Question No. 228Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

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

Can the Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirm if a Portuguese vessel was caught outside the 200-mile limit with a significant amount of codfish on board in December of 2002?

Question No. 228Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

West Nova Nova Scotia

Liberal

Robert Thibault LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

The master of a Portuguese vessel was issued a citation by Canadian Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, NAFO, inspectors for exceeding the bycatch limit of 5% for cod while fishing outside Canada's 200 mile limit in December 2002. Of the 106.9 tonnes of fish aboard this vessel, there were 5.76 tonnes of cod in the inspection sample. This amounts to 10% of the inspected catch and is considered a significant amount.

Question No. 228Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

Question No. 228Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

The Speaker

Is that agreed?

Question No. 228Routine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Halifax West Nova Scotia

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, would you be so kind as to call Notice of Motions for the Production of Papers No. P-39, in the name of the hon. member for Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam.

That a humble Address be presented to Her Excellency praying that she will cause to be laid before this House a copy of all reports, documents, letters, internal documents, briefing notes, memoranda and electronic mail between Export Development Canada and Indofoods.

Mr. Speaker, EDC is a commercial financial institution and is not subject to access to information. EDC's obligations of confidentiality to its clients prevents it from discussing transactions, proposed transactions and rejected transactions. EDC implemented a disclosure policy in October 2001, which it believes provides more information than if it were subject to ATI.

EDC is voluntarily discussing disclosing information in a timely manner, seeking consent from its customers to disclose transactional information and is promoting compliance with policy. To date only one out of 301 transactions has not been disclosed.

Hon. members can visit www.edc.ca/corpinfo/disclosure/D2_e for more information.

I therefore ask that this matter be put over for debate, and I think you would find that the hon. the Minister of Health would be agreeable to this.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I ask that this Motion for the Production of Papers be transferred for debate.