Debates of June 6th, 2003

Committees of the House

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting to the House, in both official languages, the sixteenth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 1 of the September 2002 report of the Auditor General of Canada, entitled “Human Resources Development Canada—The Integrity of the Social Insurance Number”.

I have the honour of tabling the seventeenth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on a motion by the committee dated February 12, 2003 to review the 2001-02 Public Accounts of Canada, volume 2, part II, section 3, entitled “Losses of public money and property”.

I am also tabling the eighteenth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 4 of the September 2002 report of the Auditor General, entitled “National Defence—NATO Flying Training in Canada”.

Finally, I am tabling the nineteenth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on chapter 8 of the September 2002 report of the Auditor General, entitled “Public Works and Government Services Canada—Acquisition of Office Space”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to these four reports.

Petitions

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have almost a barricade of petitions to present today, and to add to some 30,000 that were presented on the same issue. These petitioners ask Parliament to give them more freedom in natural health products rather than restricting their access to those products.

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I too have petitions with 30,000 names. The petitioners call upon the government to reconsider the way it regulates and monitors natural health products and treatments.

These Canadians believe natural health products are safe and effective. They believe that decades of safe use should be the primary consideration when determining freedom of access. These Canadians are concerned that the government's new rules and regulations will unnecessarily restrict the access to medications and treatments they have safely used for many years.

[Yolande Thibeault, Liberal, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the pleasure of introducing two petitions from the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine.

The first petition, which contains about 50 names, calls upon Parliament to freeze the budget of the Department of National Defence pending the public review of military spending priorities and public hearings on the role of the Canadian armed forces.

[Yolande Thibeault, Liberal, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, again from the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, calls upon the government to declare that Canada objects to the United States national missile defence program and that Canada should play a leadership role in banning nuclear weapons and missile flight tests.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present petitions from constituents asking Parliament to reject any request to change the traditional definitions of marriage, family and spouse.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition commenting on the efficacy of adult stem cell research. The petitioners call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find cures and therapies.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my last petition calls upon Parliament to repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act, allowing rural mail couriers to bargain collectively for their wages and conditions of work.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from petitioners who have a great concern about the adding of sexual orientation as an explicitly protected category under sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code. The petitioners believe that would lead individuals to be unable to exercise their religious freedom and their freedom of speech as protected under the charter.

They call upon Parliament to protect the rights of Canadians to be able to share their deeply held beliefs without fear of persecution and prosecution, and for the full and lawful use of the Criminal Code as it presently stands.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition with 800 names urging Parliament to take all legislative measures necessary to preserve the current definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition calling on the government to ban the sale or exchange of human embryonic or fetal tissue or human reproductive services.

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

Mr. Speaker, lastly, I have a petition, referring back to the Latimer euthanasia Supreme Court case, strongly expressing opposition to euthanasia and stating the desire for Parliament to ensure that anti-euthanasia legislation is in force to protect those most vulnerable in our society.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a series of petitions which were initiated by St. Margaret's Church in Midland, Ontario.

This petition is from citizens who point out that hundreds of Canadians suffer from illnesses such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, ALS, muscular dystrophy and others. The petitioners support ethical stem cell research which has already shown potential for such diseases.

They call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find cures and therapies necessary for Canadians suffering from such diseases.

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from citizens of the Peterborough area who point out that kidney disease is a huge and still growing problem in Canada. Real progress has been made in various ways of preventing and coping with kidney disease.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to encourage the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to explicitly include kidney research as one of the institutes in its system and to be named the institute for kidney and urinary tract diseases.

[Jay Hill, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my pleasure to present this petition from Canadians across Canada who want to draw the attention of the House of Commons that adoptive parents make a significant social contribution to our society.

The petitioners strongly believe that adoptive parents often face significant adoption related costs. However, out-of-pocket adoption expenses are not tax deductible. The petitioners are concerned about that.

Therefore, the petitioners would like to see Parliament pass legislation to provide a deduction for expenses related to the adoption of a child. I note that my private member's Bill C-246 would do exactly that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from my constituents of Erie--Lincoln.

The petition notes that the definition of marriage as the union between a man and a woman is being challenged. They further note that the House passed a motion in June 1999 that called for marriage to continue to be defined as a 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 laws as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting a petition which is signed by residents of Grand Forks, British Columbia, particularly those who are active in End the Arms Race. The petitioners are very concerned about the signing of a space preservation treaty.

They call upon Parliament to lead the world community by enacting legislation to immediately ratify the space preservation treaty and to deposit the treaty with the Secretary-General of the United Nations under the rules of the United Nations.

They also call upon Parliament to urge the Canadian government to immediately convene a treaty signing conference for the space preservation treaty to encourage the necessary 20 signatories that make the treaty go into full force.

The petitioners call on the Canadian government to show leadership in this important area of the space preservation treaty, particularly in light of their concern about the recent announcement by the Liberal government that it intends to enter into discussions to support the so-called George Bush star wars scheme.

[Gurmant Grewal, Canadian Alliance, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the constituents of Surrey Central to present a petition signed by 425 people. The petitioners request that Parliament invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the B.C. Court of Appeal decision and reinstate subsection (4) of section 163.1 of the Criminal Code, making the possession of child pornography illegal and, by so doing, reinforce and reaffirm our objection to the B.C. Court of Appeal decision.

[Gurmant Grewal, Canadian Alliance, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition the petitioners are concerned about the poor pay and working conditions for rural route mail couriers and believe these mail couriers should be permitted to bargain collectively, a right held by their urban counterparts.

The petitioners thereby request that Parliament repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

[Gurmant Grewal, Canadian Alliance, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the final petition the petitioners call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find cures and therapies necessary to treat the illness and diseases of suffering Canadians.

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to introduce a very timely petition on the subject of Bill C-250, which is an issue that will be debated this afternoon in the House of Commons.

The petition draws the attention of hon. members to the concern of the petitioners that this bill would represent an assault on freedom of speech and freedom of religion. They worry that their capacity to worship freely and to freely express their religious views would be limited by this bill.

The petitioners, therefore, encourage Parliament to protect freedom of religion by voting down this bill.

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition initiated by Bob Narraway, a constituent in my riding in Almonte, drawing the attention of the House to the fact that the current definition of marriage is the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others and encouraging Parliament to do all it can to maintain that definition.

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a third petition in which the petitioners condemn the use of child pornography and encourage Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities against children are outlawed.

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition I have today is from a number of constituents who draw the attention of the House to the fact the rural route mail couriers frequently earn less than minimum wage and have working conditions that are judged by the petitioners to be unsatisfactory and reminiscent of an earlier era. They are denied the right to bargain collectively.

The petitioners encourage Parliament to take corrective measures to end this situation.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 226 will be answered today.